


Until Next Time

by SemiSolace



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23863330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SemiSolace/pseuds/SemiSolace
Summary: As far as Fi is concerned, her purpose is to guide the one chosen to be the hero as he faces his destiny. Acting as a friend to a boy who isn't quite a hero yet is absolutely not her purpose in the slightest.But there are years to pass before the seal binding Demise weakens to a point where intervention is necessary and there is little to do except train Link and entertain whatever idea of friendship he has.She calculates that it won't change much, except perhaps ensuring he is better prepared for what is to come. She is wrong.
Relationships: Fi & Link (Legend of Zelda), Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 104





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally decided to write a thing for Skyward Sword, even if the game was... challenging! It's been a fair while since I last played some parts of it, so sorry in advance if some things aren't entirely accurate...

When Fi awakens, her first move is to acquire data regarding the circumstances of her arrival. One of her most essential functions is to detect disturbances caused by malice or otherwise evil magic, but her senses must have been dulled by her prolonged slumber because she cannot find any significant results. The seal for the Imprisoned, while steadily weakening is not yet critical, and while she can detect the lingering presence of a few monsters, there is nothing like the levels that should have initiated her awakening. 

This does not lend itself to good results.

She can, however, detect her Master's presence on the island. As all else has failed, she determines that she must locate the one chosen by the Goddess to acquire any notable data. The chamber beneath the Goddess Statue is still and silent, obviously undisturbed. 

Fi calculates an eighty percent chance that her Master is entirely unaware of the situation. Perhaps even unaware of his destiny. This is not a favourable situation, but it is not entirely unsalvageable.

So, as no other pressing concerns present themselves, her first task becomes locating her Master.

This should not be a difficult task. Sensing the one chosen by the Goddess is no hardship, it is a function that sits at the very core of her design, but remaining undetected in her search presents more difficulty than she had anticipated. 

She does not know the circumstances of her awakening. Her Master could be in some unforeseen danger that eludes her senses. He could have enemies among the civilians, as unlikely as it seems. The fact remains that she simply does not have the data to accurately guess and hence she should proceed with all possible caution. 

Still, it is a minute problem for the one that soon presents itself. Locating her Master is very easy, and she hovers concealed by an alleyway despite the fact that the one who will become the Hero should be the only one able to see her, and watches him wander through the relatively empty streets with a group of friends. 

They are all very young. Her Master is still a child. 

Her Master is still a child and he has spotted her. His face crumples in confusion, and he looks at his peers, see that none of them have seen her because they're all too busy laughing at a street performer, then starts walking towards her. The only data this offers is that he is brave to confront a stranger, and he is very likely to question her.

This is not how her records suggest their meeting should have occurred. While she cannot provide an exact description of what she expected, somewhere more secluded does seem more fitting for a moment that will start turning the wheels of destiny. 

She flees. The sound of his footsteps follow. Idly, she turns the new data she has acquired over as she leads the boy through a maze of forgotten alleyways. He has slipped away from his peers remarkably easily, and while he had smiled with them, he did not appear to speak much. She concludes that they were not paying much attention to him.

Eventually, she settles for a dusty courtyard. Analysis suggests that the houses closing this particular area off will soon undergo renovation to be put up for sale, but for now they sit untouched by builders and potential buyers alike.

Her Master arrives. He's red faced and out of breath from chasing her, his hair is a mess and there's a gap in his teeth as he smiles. 

He is young. There is no doubt that he is exactly who she thinks he is. But he is distressingly small, she suspects that the sword he must wield is actually taller than he is. He stands before her, unburdened and untested by any hardships and all she can think is that this situation meets exactly none of the parameters to facilitate her awakening. 

"Oh! Miss are you okay? You've been staring for a while." 

Fi is absolutely certain that this boy is her Master. But he is not what she expects, not even slightly. He looks far to young to have received any form of adequate training in combat, perhaps he has never even held a sword. 

"Can you talk? Are you shy?" 

"Master, I can verify that speech is well within my capabilities. However, I am still becoming accustomed to verbal communication as I have only recently awoken."  


"That's good! I don't talk much either, so I won't make fun of you! Do you want to be friends?" 

That is interesting information. Her Master does not speak often, which explains what she saw with the crowd earlier, but she seems to be an exception to this rule.

"I am not made for the purpose of friendship." 

"So you've never had a friend before? That's okay, we can be friends forever if you want, that way you'll always have a friend!" 

"I was made to aid you in fulfilling your destiny. At the present time, this does not seem possible. Master, I request time to analyse the situation to infer the reasoning behind my premature awakening."

"That... that wasn't a no, right? Because unless you say no, we're friends forever now." 

She files his comment away for analysis. She suspects that results will only be attainable with further contextual clues as his words are otherwise nonsensical. However, there are more pressing matters at hand. She must test her newfound hypothesis.

"Master, how proficient are you with a blade?" 

"Um... I don't know, we only start lessons next week and I'm not sure if we even cover combat in our first year." 

"Master, I infer that your current curriculum is based on age. How old are you currently?" 

He proudly shows her ten fingers. 

That is... unexpected. Still, she now has data to work with. Her Master is entirely untrained and while this certainly is a pressing issue, it is becoming apparent that his destiny will not arrive for several years yet, as she can sense no great danger or significant presence of evil.  
"I have devised a solution to the current predicament, Master." 

"I can tell you my name, Miss. You don't need to call me Master all the time, I'm just called Link." 

"Master Link, your amendment to your title reminds me that I have been remiss in my own introduction. You may call me Fi, and I am here to serve as a companion to you." 

"That's a funny way to say 'friend', Fi." 

Another odd comment. She will provide her Master with a suitable response once she has deciphered it. That, however, is a task that will require analysis and will not be completed for use in this conversation.

"I believe the reasoning behind my consciousness is to better prepare you for your destiny, Master Link. I shall begin devising a training regime that will accommodate this." 

"Destiny? Training? Fi, what are you talking about?" 

This is concerning, but not unexpected. Throughout the exchange, she has been gathering data on her Master, and her assessment suggests that he is an average child with no prior training and no awareness of the tasks he must fulfil. Given his age, she cannot yet find a way to reveal his task without causing undue distress. Again, she needs more data on the situation to formulate a better response.

"Given your current age and lack of fitting education, I suggest there is an eighty-five percent chance you will not understand the explanation I am capable of providing." 

Link nods sagely. "Yeah! The instructors said there'd be no lessons for a week anyway. I don't know anything yet. If it's important, I don't want to mess it up." 

"Then I shall withhold an explanation until I deem you ready, is this an acceptable outcome?"  
"Yeah! Let me get used to being at the academy first." 

He seems to be taking everything remarkably well. What Fi doesn't know, but will soon learn, is that the boy had only just moved to the island of Skyloft to attend his new school and everything he has experienced thus far is new and he had simply decided just to take everything in his stride.  
It is an approach he will not lose.

"That is a wise decision. Having addressed the most dire of matters, all that is left is to arrange our next meeting, Master." 

"Fi, I told you my name already. You don't need to call me 'Master'. It's weird." 

"Please direct your focus to finding a time at which you will be able to visit me undetected." 

"Will I have to find my way back here? Because I don't know if I can do that without asking for directions." Link mumbles. He looks embarrassed by the fact, if her assessment of his red face is indeed accurate.

"No, this is a temporary location. I would request you meet me in the chamber beneath the Goddess Statue." That would surely suffice for any training she could formulate. Given his age, any training of significant intensity could do more damage than good. She will have to be careful. 

"But isn't that sealed? There's a story about a super powerful sword there or something. We were told all about it in our tour yesterday." 

"It will open for you. Just ensure that you arrive undetected." 

"So it has to be a secret?" 

"Yes. Until I have more data, a high level of secrecy is imperative." 

The boy beams. He looks thrilled. That is not the reaction she had expected to a mission as dire as this one. It seems lacking, but perhaps she just requires more information on human emotions.

"I like this game! When do you want me to meet you?" A lot. A lot more information. 

"At your earliest convenience." 

"So whenever I'm ready?" 

"Yes." 

The boy nods. He pulls a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and examines it. He goes pale. 

"I was meant to be back at the school a while ago, I think." He yelps. Ah, so her Master is not yet accustomed to meeting deadlines. That is something she will have to change.

Still, her first impression of Master Link is that he has potential as his quick acceptance of the situation indicates a great adaptability. The situation should be quickly amended. By the time the seal begins to weaken, the Hero will be well prepared. 

"I suggest you leave with all immediate haste. I will guide you back through the route I memorised." 

"You can do that? Thanks, Fi!" 

It is a relatively short path, for all that Link had been out of breath from running it earlier. Purely by luck, for there is no cause she can identify, the group her Master was with earlier are waiting in the square. 

Perhaps this task should be used as a model for how she should proceed with all other tasks. She has successfully met every objective and has done so undetected by all except her Master-

The boy turns to wave at her as he steps out of the alleyway. "Bye Fi! Thanks for the help, I'll see you tomorrow." 

Then he races back towards his peers. She spends a moment quickly running every possible calculation to ensure that his words were not overheard, or have at least not aimed any attention towards her general area.

They are fortunate. Her Master leaves, and by the time he looks back to see if she's still there, she has long since returned her consciousness to the blade in a dark chamber.  
Already, she is analysing every shred of data she has gathered from the short interaction, as she was designed to be as efficient as possible. 

Her Master is woefully unprepared to meet the destiny that awaits him. However, given the strength of the seal resting beneath the clouds she thinks that they have adequate time to remedy this. Perhaps that was her purpose, to train her Master to ensure the task will be completed successfully.

With an explanation for her awakening, she can proceed with greater certainty. This is a pleasing outcome. 

Now, to turn her attention to deciphering the new linguistic trends humans seem to have developed. 'Friends' is not a new term, but perhaps the understood definition has changed, if Master Link felt it was fitting to apply the term to her...  


* * *

She has no answers by the time her Master arrives to the chamber for the start of their training.

He arrives late the next day, when the shadows are beginning to lengthen and the summer heat is drawing away from the island, leaving in its place a pleasant chill. The chamber is always cool, though, and the fresh air that follows him through the door is the first it has seen for several years.

"I snuck out after curfew for this." He tells her proudly. "Nobody saw me, I think. Oh, is that the magic sword?" 

"That is good." She decides. Then, she answers his question. "Yes, that is the sword I believe your tour referred two days ago. As you have no experience in wielding a blade, I advise you leave it alone for now." 

He nods. There is little else to say, so she addresses the most pressing matter first.  
"As far as I can infer, my purpose is to train you so you are prepared for your destiny. We will begin now. Is that acceptable?" 

The child stares at her, confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Fi." 

"As you have no current combat ability, I believe the best basis for a training regime would lie in building your stamina. Given our lack of resources, I propose a simple solution: run laps of the chamber until you tire." 

"You called me here really late to run?" He looks horrified. She had not exactly considered his feelings when she finished her plan, and now it is too late to incorporate them. She will have to dismiss his dismay.

"Yes, that is an apt description of the task I request you complete." 

"Is this like a game?" 

"If it comforts you to treat this as a game, I calculate that it will do no harm."

"If it's a game, you have to play too! I'm not running by myself." 

Well, he had sounded certain. He had not given her an option, and if the completion of this task was dependent on her company, there is no reason for her not to comply. 

"Very well, Master." 

"Fi, I thought I told you to stop calling me Master." 

"It is a term that denotes the relationship we share. It is perfectly acceptable." 

"So you mean it like a nickname?" 

"It is the title I shall address you by." 

"I guess that's less weird." 

She has yet to accustom to the role of an instructor, but the fact remains that their conversation, while offering interesting data on human social customs that do not apply to her, is wasting valuable time. 

"We must begin shortly, Master Link." 

He frowns at her. It only then occurs to her that he had perhaps used the conversation as a means to stall the activity. Her thoughts amount to nothing as Link sighs, then obediently begins running. 

She hovers several steps ahead of him the entire time. This proves to be a wise decision as she can see the exact point at which he begins to tire. 

Given the data she possesses on monsters she believes should only be found on the surface, she believes he as only a twenty-fiver percent chance of outrunning a mob of bokoblins.  
While she suspects his performance is average for his age, she will have to ensure that drastic improvements are made in time. 

"You may stop now, Master." She decides, once he has slowed considerably and appears to be having difficulty breathing. 

Link collapses onto the floor the second she speaks. As he is in no state to listen, she refrains from speaking until his colour has returned to normal and he is no longer gasping for breath. 

"You performance today will be what I compare future attempts to in order to track your improvement. Without further data, I can offer no conclusion regarding your efforts today." She informs him steadily. 

"I didn't even manage to catch you." He responds unhappily. 

She processes the statement. She carefully examines their earlier interaction. For all of her attempts, Fi cannot comprehend how this miscommunication has occurred. Never once did she state that Link's goal was to catch her, that would be entirely illogical as well as impossible: she does not tire as humans do because her form is not tangible at this time.

"I-I'll catch you next time!" 

Given his initial reluctance to begin training, perhaps his misconception does not require remedy. Determination will likely provide better results than having to persuade him to attend training regularly. 

"Given your results this time, I do not find that outcome to be probable." 

"Was... was that a challenge?" 

She does not answer. 

"I'll... t-totally win the game!" He wheezes, and then groans. 

"Master Link, as training is complete for the day, I suggest you return soon to ensure you rest properly before tomorrow." 

"We actually have to do things tomorrow, Fi. It's going to be so boring." 

"This contradicts the data you provided me with earlier. You informed me that you would not have lessons until next week." This... interferes with her plans. Were she human, the research she has completed suggests that she would be feeling annoyance. 

"No, it's not lessons. It's learning how to sit through a lesson. So we'll be taught how to make notes and given schedules and stuff. Not taught anything." 

Ah. There is finally some information of importance she can put to use as soon as she is given it. "When you get your schedule, please inform me so we can arrange regular meetings for training." 

"Okay, when should I do that?" 

"In two days time."

All proceeds well. She thinks that as long as clear interactions like this are the established norm, her Master will be well prepared in plenty of time. He leaves, the chamber door closes behind him and she promptly stops bothering with holding a visible form. 

She has data to analyse, after all.  


* * *

She gets the schedule, she sits with her Master and they come up with a plan where he visits her three times a week for training.

One month passes slowly. Then another. There is little of note to report.

He shows minute signs of improvement, which is good. He still insists that their training is a game, and she entertains the idea of correcting him but never does. It would be logical, she concludes, to set this idea straight at the same time she informs him of the destiny awaiting him. 

The first anomaly occurs shortly after the second month of their training ends. Fi is never idle, she spends most of her time planning the content of new lessons and calculating and correcting when she deems the appropriate time to introduce more theory based lessons.  
The chamber door opens when sunlight streams through the sky. She does not manifest a visible form, but extends her awareness so she can clearly hear the group gathered outside the door.

"And she's really smart, even if most of the words she uses don't make sense! I sort of just guess what she's saying sometimes. And she's the best at tag ever, because I haven't managed to catch her yet-" 

"Didn't you say she was really shy?" A female voice interrupts. Her Master laughs sheepishly, and Fi imagines he is nodding. 

"W-will she be okay to meet a-all of us then?" 

A boisterous laugh answers. Yet another individual, most certainly not her Master. "Don't worry Fledge. The best way to overcome being shy is to meet new people! It worked with you lot, didn't it?" 

A whisper so quiet she has to strain to hear it. "Link might have been, but I don't think Zelda was ever shy..." 

Fi supposes that the blame for this situation can only be assigned to her. She had not clarified that all meetings were to remain secret, only the first ones. And now she must decide whether it is safe to reveal herself to Link's friends. 

On one hand, if they have her Master's trust, then by default, she will afford them the same courtesy. They do not oppose her Master, but she must consider things he would not, for that is her purpose. She still does not know how much of Hylia's teachings have been diluted in the islands in the sky, and she would still rather remain a secret, lest Link's lessons be deemed as some sort of crime or omen, depending on how certain events had been interpreted.

In truth, she has decided to remain hidden even before Link ushers his friends in, and she is faced with the human form of Her Grace. Hylia has become the girl that her Master calls Zelda. Seeing the Goddess in human form is jarring, to say the least.  
Fi is not prepared for it. It is a very human reaction, to be stunned into silence, so she reminds herself that the protocol of remaining hidden is one she had already chosen. Her duty is to her Master. Hylia has determined her own fate, and Fi's only role in it is assisting Master Link. 

She should not interfere. 

Her Master introduces his friends. Her Master calls for her, asks her to reveal herself.  
She does not answer.

He knows that she does not leave the chamber, that she never will. She has made it clear to him where she will be found should he ever need her or experience an emergency. He knows that sometimes she does not have a physical form, because she manifests in front of him sometimes to test his reflexes. 

She watches his face. He goes from happy to confused.  
He's yelling at first, but his voice eventually lowers into a sad, lost whisper. She does not care much for his peers beyond Zelda, and she is the one to suggest they leave the chamber after Link has clearly failed to show them the friend he was talking about.

He glances back at the sword as he leaves, tugged away by Zelda's hand, and even though she has not told him yet, it's like he knows that the blade is where she resides. She does not have enough data to read his expression.

It looks like he might cry.

She has no doubt that he will address this incident when he arrives for training that night. Her actions will require justification, and while she already has an explanation prepared, she does wonder what she will be faced with.

Perhaps her Master will be angry.  


* * *

She is wrong. Whatever he is feeling, it is not anger.

"They think you're my imaginary friend." 

"They are incorrect. I am most certainly real." 

"Oh... And we're most certainly friends, right?" 

For all that her Master wants reassurance from her, she still has yet to affirm a concrete definition of 'friend'. As she has no idea as to what duties friendship entails, she will not commit to the word should she find herself lacking. 

"At present, there is no data that could compel me to leave your side." 

"Oh... good! That's good!" And yet, despite her non-commital answer, he seems happy enough.

He starts running the laps without being instructed. Given the remarkable improvement he has shown in the last three months, Fi can conclude that he has a good work ethic. His stamina, of course, will take time to develop, but the percentage chance of success will increase with every week, no matter how little each time. 

"Say... Fi..." 

He has yet to learn that talking while running is not a good idea. Especially for someone at his level. 

"What's you-your favourite... colour?" 

She hovers several feet ahead of him as he runs. "I do not have a preference. Such matters do not concern me." 

He looks disappointed with her response. She cannot tell why, it was delivered in a timely manner and conveyed accurate information. 

Another absurdity. Perhaps it is a human thing.  


* * *

Two more weeks pass uneventfully. Of course, she believes she has just managed to shape the routine into something predictable and regular when Link decides to disregard it entirely by visiting her when he had not planned to.

One otherwise uneventful evening, he races into the chamber and hurries over to the sword she has instructed him not to touch yet.

"Master? Why are you here? It is not a night when we scheduled training, you should be sleeping." 

The child beams at her, and as he steps away from the sword in the pedestal, she can see what he's done. There's a small band of colourful threads wrapped firmly around the hilt, and she knows without needing to examine her reflection that her form mimics the design with the same colours being wrapped around one of her feet as an anklet. 

"I know. I was bringing you a present!" 

She peers at the hilt just because he expects her to. He's watching her expression carefully, even though he knows it won't change.

Still, Link's face falls as she stares at it. "It's a friendship bracelet. I made them with Zelda today. Do... do you like it?" 

"It should not impede your grip on the blade. While unnecessary," she suspects she has made a blunder in her answer by the way her Master's eyes fill with tears, so she amends her response, "it is an aesthetically pleasing addition." 

"So you like it?" 

"Yes." 

He claps his hands, delighted. He shows no sign of leaving the chamber, though. 

"Did you spend the day making these friendship bracelets?" Fi asks, deciding that she should try and gather as much information on the education her Master is receiving as possible. 

Link nods proudly. "Yep! Pipit was showing me and Zelda how to do it!" 

"Zelda and I." Fi corrects absently. She cannot tell why this pointless practice would be considered a good curriculum. Perhaps it had some cultural value then. 

"So I made one for Zelda because she's my best friend ever! And then I made one for Pipit because he's a great friend too! And then," he trails off and looks almost sad, "then I made one for you in secret because I think they'd find it stupid if I made one for an imaginary friend." 

Fi hasn't quite ironed out the reasoning behind her next remark before she makes it, but she'll convince herself later that it was a logical response, just one that she didn't have time to fully process. Guilt has nothing to do with it. "Not revealing myself to your friends was a necessary action, but I apologise if it hurt you. My purpose is to assist you, but I do not deem it wise for me to, even inadvertently, interfere with another's destiny." 

"Fi," Link complains, "you're using words I don't understand again." 

"I apologise, Master. I will attempt to adjust my vocabulary in accordance with your age."  
He frowns at her.  
"I will use words you should know, then." 

"Oh. Thank you!" 

"I suspect that my earlier statement was not clear in light of this information. I will repeat myself for you. I am sorry for not showing myself when you tried to introduce me to your friends, but I do not want to make mistakes. Especially when it comes to my task, which is helping you." 

"So... you didn't want to be friends with them?"

"I did not think it would be for the best." She agrees. This is an important matter, if it will affect how she works with her Master, and all attempts at clarification should me made. 

"But you still want to be friends with me?" 

"Yes." 

She expects relief at that. She seems to have clarified that her actions, while hurtful were the only appropriate way forward. Instead, her Master seems troubled. Perhaps it is because some of her memories are damaged, but she cannot recall young humans being this difficult to interact with. 

"They're nice people." 

"Are they not teasing you for having an imaginary friend?"  


"Groose is the only one being mean about it, and I didn't even bring him. Zelda and Pipit are nice!" 

"Nevertheless, a 'friendship' with them would not be wise." 

"So.. you're definitely not embarrassed by me?" 

She pauses to consider this. While 'embarrassed' is not the word she would use, the child standing before her is so very far from the seasoned warrior Fi had expected to take the role of her Master. He has a long way to go, but they have been given the gift of time, and it is not one she intends to waste. 

"Your shortcomings are understandable. Time will amend them and when you must face your destiny, I believe you will do so with the bravery and expertise that has been foretold. In time, I will be honoured to serve as your companion." 

"Fi..." 

"No, Master. I am not embarrassed by you." 

And there is the relief she was waiting for. She mentally marks the success of the interaction, and decides to endeavour to find a more suitable range of vocabulary. 

(She will not be aware of this until several years later, but Link leaves the interaction with the idea of stealing one of the worn, unused thesauruses from the back of one of the classrooms and looking up the words she uses. It is a compromise that will prove fruitful.) 

"However, I am about to ask why you have chosen to visit me on a night not set aside for training. You must sleep to be focused for your classes tomorrow." 

"I-I wanted to give you the bracelet." 

"Having successfully done so, I advise you return to your room to sleep. You have a full day of school tomorrow." 

He grins at her sleepily. "Okay! Bye Fi. I'm glad you aren't mad at me!" 

As he makes his way back to the dorm and Fi has finished observing, unseen to ensure that Link has arrived at the academy safely and undetected, she returns to the blade and turns her attention to assessing the interaction. 

By morning, she has come up with an array of words that should be simple enough for her Master to understand as he learns, has drafted a plan to interject an appropriately concise explanation whenever he looks confused, but she cannot for all her capabilities find a reason for her new accessory to make her alter her expression into something Link would call a smile.  


* * *

Time passes quickly, now she is occupied with both her study of human emotion and overseeing her Master's training, for all that he still insists it's a game. He has not, nor will he ever, managed to catch her.

Still, a good four months after he gives her the friendship bracelet, he manages to add another lap to his average time. He shows improvement. 

Fi learns a lot more about her Master in their time together. She learns that he prefers flying lessons to sitting in a classroom, which does not come as a surprise. She learns that his Loftwing is considered unusual for its crimson plumage

She has little to offer in return. 

This seems to suit Link just fine. For all his claims that he does not talk as much as his peers, he seems perfectly content to ramble to her in the spaces between training.  
One month passes. 

Then another. 

She considers starting theory-based lessons. Having him memorise the weaknesses of the monsters she can recall will reduce the chances of him needing to call on her when he must eventually face them in combat, which should save time. 

Another two months pass. His average speed increases again, however slowly. 

He knows nothing of his destiny. The school year ends and he leaves for the holiday, but promises her that he won't forget the rules to their game. She takes this to mean that he will continue practicing.

He shows improvement. That is the important thing. She cannot quite explain where something that isn't quite certainty comes from, but it has her deciding that she will allow her Master more time before he must learn the brutal reality of his training.  
They have time. There is no urgency in revealing the truth.  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! A few of you might notice that most of this chapter is the same as half of the old one, since I had some editing problems and decided to split the story into smaller chapters, sorry for the confusion! The newer content will be nearer the end of the chapter.

Her Master returns after a break that feels longer than the six weeks it has been in reality. There are several customs in human culture to greet one that has not been seen for a long time, including welcoming their return or remarking on new changes.

Her Master decides that he wants the latter from her. He bursts into the chamber on he night of his return and does not waste time on a greeting.

"Fi, what do you think?" 

She processes his appearance. He has grown taller- remarkably so for such a short time, and he now wears earrings. 

"Master, I assume you are referring to your new accessory?"

"Yep!"

She pauses. She is designed to give the information that will be of most use first as a priority, and even when the situation is not dire, it is a guideline she will adhere to. "Should an enemy blow snag them, they will prove a hindrance." 

His entire face crumples. "Oh." 

"That being said, a number of magical items come in the form of jewellery as it is both durable and lends itself to easy transport. Most of these effects will allow you to traverse terrains most life forms would deem too extreme to inhabit. As such, I fully approve of this attempt to increase your arsenal, as the potential benefits far outweigh the risks." 

Link lights up with relief. "I'm glad someone likes them! I think even Zelda was pretending to find them nice so she wouldn't hurt my feelings."

"You seem atypically pleased by this development." 

"Well, getting earrings was my birthday present! But no one on Skyloft except you seems to like them." 

She remembers the 'imaginary friend' incident from the year before. While her Master had not ever spoken of how his peers treated him due to it, she now has the data of his behaviour to see that he was unusually quiet and reserved for almost two months after it occurred. Upon reflection, she can conclude that it is likely that his reputation with his peers suffered.

Now, when he has an accessory that is not common among males in Skyloft, it is likely that he is experiencing the same problem. While she cannot intervene because of her role in her Master's destiny, she does have some idea as to what little help she can offer.  
Fi was not idle in the time spent away from her Master. Her research suggests that when one is feeling disheartened by recent events, the recommended course of action is to offer advice, or to show support or concern. 

What she does not have, however, is information on the implementation of this practice. As the matter is pressing, she will have to make do with estimations and proceed without any prior guidance.

"Do you like them?" 

Hesitantly, Link nods.

"Then the opinions of other people do not matter. They do not choose what makes you happy, do not let them choose what makes you sad." 

She thinks it is a rather good attempt. Link clearly disagrees, and he will not look at her.  
"I don't think it works like that, Fi." He mutters sourly.

In hindsight, addressing the situation with emotions, an area she is not well versed in was not a wise decision. She will have to try another approach. Her attempt at advice has failed. Now she must attempt to show either support or concern. 

"They will prove to be to your advantage in combat should you find magical replacements for what you're currently wearing. Master, I predict that as your education progresses, your peers will come to realise this." 

That seems to work, which defies all logic.  
"I'm ahead of the game!" Link says proudly. Fi quietly concludes that she may never be able to understand her Master. 

"Speaking of games, I kept practicing like you told me to, I might even be able to catch you now." 

"I find that to be unlikely, however I am willing to test new data." 

"Yes! I missed playing with you Fi, even if you use weird words sometimes."

Again. That odd expression Link would call a smile. 

"I apologise. I will endeavour to provide better results in regard to my verbal habits." 

"You haven't changed at all!" Her Master says delighted, then starts running as she hovers a nice consistent two metres away. It is odd, his words denote that she has failed in her task, but his tone suggests he is not displeased with the outcome. 

Human interaction clearly requires yet more analysis. 

And while she considers the topic of analysis, her Master's results break his previous records. He has practiced as he'd claimed, then. Except now she calculates that his stamina is sufficient to begin more focused training, and she is unsure how to broach the topic, considering Link still thinks that most training is a game. 

"You've been practicing too." He huffs, sitting near the sword as he catches his breath.  
"I have." She agrees. It is not necessarily a lie, she has spent her time perfecting skills, just not the ones her Master is referring to. "I think we should progress to a more difficult game." 

He frowns. "But I haven't beat you yet." 

"We will not cease stamina training entirely. It will occur less frequently in favour of new training." 

Link blinks at her. "You said training again. You keep mentioning it too, because you slip up sometimes. Do you want me to enter a competition or something?" 

He has given her exactly two options. "Or something." 

Somehow, he starts to look excited. "Is it a secret? Or a surprise?" 

"I will inform you when I think you are ready." She repeats, feeling oddly lost. 

"That's okay." He nods like he understands. Fi only wishes she knew exactly what he inferred from the conversation. 

She doesn't know. She has no idea what misconceptions he might have until she corrects them, but she is strangely reluctant to do so. He is happy for the moment, she suspects that her awakening was very premature and she sees no reason to cause undue distress. 

So he leaves that night blissfully unaware of all the things he must do years in the future, and she has the distinct impression that she has failed somehow.  


* * *

Link is not as fond of the new training as he was of the game he called 'tag'. Fi suspects it is because there is nothing inherently competitive about the tasks she decides are necessary.

"Fi, why do I have to learn about stances? We aren't even learning how to fight with a sword until next year anyway."

She has explained this many times in many different ways. She suspects that he's attempting to annoy her into giving up.  
"Because a poor stance will greatly reduce your chance of success in any endeavour, especially those related to combat." She reminds him indulgently. Then: "Master, you will need to move your front foot forward to increase the strength of your stance." 

He moves his foot but with grumpy, over-exaggerated movements that don't generally lend themselves to success. He also seems to have a new hobby of glaring at the floor that seems to be related to the word 'stance'.

"Master Link, you do not seem pleased." 

"It's boring." 

"You wanted to be 'ahead of the game' I believe. This will set you ahead of your peers," she considers what Link has told her of his classmates, "by a considerable degree." 

Link brightens. Suspiciously so. "I get to learn how to use a sword early if I do this?" 

"That is the point, yes." 

"You're the coolest Fi!" 

It is an entirely unremarkable comment. Nothing differentiates it from most of the other fairly confusing comments her Master makes as he tells her about his day. But in the next few weeks, then months as Link carefully perfects each of the basic stances, she keeps the comment in mind.

No matter how much he complains and mutters beneath his breath, it has already been decided: Fi is the coolest.  


* * *

The year passes slowly. Fi thinks it has something to do with Link's newfound hobby of complaining. So when the next change occurs, she is understandably hesitant to bring it up. It's not that she believes that it would be a negative change, not exactly. She has sufficient data to be somewhat optimistic this time.

Still, she has decided to attempt a more human interaction, since when she forgets things like 'sympathy', Link looks sad until she decides that he doesn't need to do those ten extra press ups. 

If she does not take back the extra ten press ups, she is most certainly not the coolest anymore. That is not an outcome that seems favourable so she decides that it should be avoided.

She spends two weeks collecting data on culture within Skyloft, then an extra three days to perfect the conversation she has planned.

It starts well, at least.  
"Master Link, you have grown taller." 

The boy looks thrilled. This has absolutely nothing to do with her words, and everything to do with the fact that she isn't telling him that he must begin either press ups or stance training shortly.  
This is... encouraging. 

"As such, I believe you may be of suitable height to at least draw the sword from its pedestal. It is your right as the one chosen by the Goddess to do so." 

Link does not look thrilled anymore. No, he looks awestruck. Perhaps even overwhelmed.  
"I... I get to draw the sword." 

"Yes. And wield it, when it becomes necessary." 

"I... _Your_ sword?" 

She pauses momentarily. She has not actually given him this information just yet, but it is something he seems to have understood instinctively.  
"My consciousness is bound to the blade, yes. That does not change the fact that the sword is yours to use." 

"So you _are_ a sword spirit." 

"It appears I have underestimated your observation skills, Master." 

"No, it was obvious." The boy says faintly as he approaches the pedestal. 

Fi supposes that this is the moment that shapes the rest of Link's destiny. He doesn't quite look the Hero yet, even though he's holding the sword above his head and the blade is burning with light in the hands of its Master.

For an instant, she can see who he will become.

The moment is gone as soon as it occurs. His arms are trembling with the effort of holding the blade upright, his stance could use some work still and he is very, very small. Her Master has tired circles beneath his eyes, messy hair and ink smudges on his hands.  
He is not a Hero. He is a boy who will spend weekends playing with his friends, he is a boy who spends most evenings doing homework and he has another day of school tomorrow. He is a boy with a destiny she doesn't know how to tell him about and he's playing with something he's not ready for yet. 

"Oh," he murmurs, "it's heavy." 

"Then I suggest you return it to its resting place. It will be yours when you are ready." Fi speaks softly. 

Link is overwhelmed, clearly, because he does so without complaint. He does not ask when he will be ready, he does not ask what the point of letting him draw the sword was, if he couldn't use it.  
Which is unfortunate. Fi has anticipated those questions and is now unsure what to do with the answers she has prepared.

"When I deem that you have an acceptable grasp of the basics, I will begin instruction in handling such a weapon." 

The boy is pale, he keeps staring between her and the sword like he's trying to figure something out, but he nods.  
"So that's what I'm working towards?" 

The sword is only a very small part of his destiny. She cannot tell exactly what monsters he will have to fight, exactly what trials he will face. But the sword will be his weapon, she will be at his side. She will make sure he survives it. 

"Yes." It is not exactly true, but it is not a lie. 

"Okay." And for the first time, her Master sounds very, very small.

But when he comes back for their next training session, he's as bright as usual and chatters away to her for the easier stretches. She proposes the running task he seems to call 'tag' and while he attempts the pointless task of trying to catch her, she wonders exactly when she started prioritising his happiness over efficiency. 

It is not something she can afford to do often, but the occasional anomaly can always be disregarded when forming a final conclusion. 

Still, the moment does bring a noticeable change. No matter how many press ups she adds, no matter how many times she has to correct his stance, Link no longer complains quite so much.

The year ends quietly. She adds another anomaly to months of otherwise flawless data by disregarding the planned lesson for their final meeting before Link leaves Skyloft to return home for the school holidays and instead playing perhaps the longest game of 'tag' yet.  
Link leaves smiling. It is only after another week of his absence does Fi realise that she has yet to broach the topic of his destiny with him just yet, and there's this odd sinking feeling as she realises that she cannot avoid it for much longer.  


* * *

"Hi Fi! How was your holiday?"

"I am unsure what you mean, Master Link." 

"Well, you had six weeks to not be teaching me," he grins like she's trying to cheer him up again but with more success, "so what did you do?" 

Did... Did he think she was not performing properly? 

"You don't need to be concerned, Master. I spent most of my time devising an appropriate schedule for this year. You will be well prepared for the tasks to come." She speaks quickly. She needs this data. Now.  
She had not thought herself remiss in her duties. This needs to be remedied.

"That wasn't what I was asking at all, Fi. We spend all this time together and I still have no idea what you do for fun!" Now Link seems to be the one distressed and she's not entirely sure what to do with it. 

She pauses. "Fun?" 

"Yeah! Things that make you happy. Stuff you do to make you less stressed." It appears he is copying her habit of providing definitions for words she does not immediately grasp, even if the attempt is somewhat clumsy. She appreciates it. 

'Fun' is a human word, often used to denote emotion. She does not, or at least should not feel emotions such as happiness. But stress is another matter altogether. She often prioritises her tasks by how urgent she judges them to be.  
By this assessment, she should look at the tasks she often judges to be the most urgent. They all relate to training Link so he will not die a horrible death fulfilling his destiny. 

"I teach you." 

He looks horrified. "Fun things, Fi! I meant fun things!" 

"Teaching you is what I would classify as fun." 

She will never understand how humans can go through so many emotions so quickly. Link goes from looking sad to surprised to well... She cannot exactly decipher the last expression he makes, but he attempts to hug her, so she assumes that it is positive.  
Then he is smiling for weeks afterwards. Very positive, then. 

She may not understand it, but she almost wishes she could replicate it. For the training, of course, because she notices a twenty percent increase in productivity.  
Even after his good mood ends, his results continue to improve. Perhaps this will just be a very good year, then.  


* * *

It would be wrong to say that things go badly.

It would be less wrong, but not entirely right to say that she is reluctant. She lets the months pass by slowly, watches as Link outgrows the new training she has designed for him.  
She listens to him talk about the time he spends with Zelda, how she's the only one encouraging his new hobby of carving wood (Fi can see no practical use beyond decoration, but keeps her thoughts to herself) and how he wants to be good enough to carve a little statue of a Loftwing one day. 

Outwardly, the topic of his friends and hobbies get the same reaction as the increasing mentions that his class is starting the basics of sword training. Inwardly, well, that's where the trouble is. 

There's a question Link hasn't asked her yet, and it's the question he hadn't asked the year before. His silence doesn't matter though, because she asks herself the question every day as she processes the new data from his training. 

When will he be ready? 

For the sword, for his destiny, for all the things he must face. She does not know, she does not have a criteria and it unsettles her.  
He does not call the training games anymore. She thinks that means he must be nearly there. But then she keeps finding reasons not to tell him for another month.  
In the end, he asks. 

"Hey Fi, am I allowed to practice with the sword yet, or is linked to that destiny thing you won't talk about?" 

She has an answer prepared. It has been ready since before she woke up, it should have been the first thing she ever said to the boy who acts as her Master. And still, she stalls for time. 

"Do you believe you are ready to hear the truth of your destiny?"

He does not look nearly concerned enough. "Yeah, I think so." 

"Master Link, to understand your destiny is to understand why I am training you. It will change your perspective on every interaction we have had thus far. You must first understand that you are-" 

"I'm the chosen Hero, aren't I?" 

She pauses. Automatically, another lecture on why interrupting is bad because she cannot convey information efficiently if she must pause comes to mind. But no, her Master knows this very well already, and then she registers exactly what he has said. 

"That is accurate, yes. I was unaware that you had guessed as much already. May I ask what led to this discovery so I do not repeat myself in the explanation I will provide you with." 

The boy starts pacing. She had expected perhaps relief if this is a theory he has harboured for a long time, but instead he just seems anxious. "Well, there's this story about this chamber, I think I mentioned it the first time I came here." 

"Yes," she recalls, "you did."

"And there's this magic sword in here that's been left for the Hero Chosen by the Goddess. You're a sword spirit, Fi, and you won't talk to anyone but me from Skyloft. You also told me that I'd be the one to use the sword." 

Well... When he puts it like that, she should not be surprised that he put it all together before she told him. Perhaps secrecy is something she should work on, although it directly contradicts her purpose. She is not supposed to keep things from her Master.

"That's all I know," he says awkwardly. He looks at her, then the sword, then her again. "I have no idea what being the Hero means except that we're friends." 

Him being the Hero means that he will one day have to leave these peaceful days behind. It means one day he will have to run and it won't be because he's chasing her around the chamber, it will be because stopping means death. It means that he will go places that those friends he speaks so fondly of cannot follow. 

Except she's one of those friends. And she can follow him where he has to go, she will. 

"Your role is one that has been determined by the Goddess herself, long before you were born, long before Her Grace sent her people to Skyloft." 

Link looks floored. "You- you mean the Surface is real?" 

Of all the parts of the story to be lost to mythology, the origin of Skyloft is not what Fi expected to be questioned.

"It is. You and Hylia's mortal form will traverse it over the course of your respective fates." 

"Hylia's what?" 

Ah. She had meant to explain Link's destiny independently before addressing Hylia's part to play. Upon reflection, she decides it will be better to start at the beginning. 

"Long ago, the surface was the dwelling place of mortal such as yourself. Upon Hylia's conflict with the Demon King Demise, great destruction and mortal peril made the land inhabitable for your kind. To save her people, Hylia sent them to the sky, created a cloud barrier invisible from below, and gave them Loftwings." 

"I know all this Fi," is Link's awestruck whisper, "I just didn't think it was real." 

"Then you know of Hylia's Hero, who fell defending her cause? Then you know that Her Grace was unable to kill Demise, and she instead was able to seal him below. She made herself mortal, and made me for you."

She pauses. Link seems to have taken this remarkably well. So far, he has simply nodded and let her speak. There is only one question for him now, and it is the one that she believes she dreads. 

"Why?" 

"Your fate is linked to Hylia's mortal incarnation. Together, you are fated to remove the threat of Demise once and for all. Already, monsters walk the surface and the seal that binds the Demon King is weakening. You may have to face his weakened form if the seal ever comes close to breaking." 

"Is..." And there's the fear she expected. The slow dawning of understanding, and she knew that her Master would never be the same again. "Is that likely?" 

"I predict a greater than forty percent probability. Given the current strength of the seal, I cannot make any more predictions." 

"But even weakened, it'll be dangerous?" 

"Yes. Certainly so." 

He lets out a shaky breath. Nothing about Link seems stable in that moment, his hands tremble, he's curled in on himself, and he can't bring himself to look at her or the sword for more than seconds at a time.  
"So you're saying that I'll have to fight for someone I don't even know in a battle that ended years and years before my grandparents were born and I might die doing it?" 

"Yes." That is exactly what she said, and the fact that he looks like he's about to cry is not an acceptable outcome but she can't even think of a way to stop it. 

"So I won't get to go home, or visit my friends will I? Because I'll be on the surface and I'll be fighting." He looks horrified. "I won't be able to go flying!" 

When one gets bad news, it is customary to offer condolences. "I am sorry, Master Link."  
The boy bids her a wobbly farewell and leaves quickly. There is no reason she can think of to ask him to stay, even if she wants to ensure he is less distressed. She suspects that her very presence contributes to his sadness. 

The next day, she extends her awareness beyond the chamber, although she does not bother creating a form, and she listens. She hears Zelda's horror after taking one look at Link, she hears Zelda ask if he wants to talk about it, hears Link's resolute 'no', and hears Zelda stick by his side the whole day anyway. 

He will be a Hero, and he will defend Zelda because they are friends first, because she is Hylia second, and he will survive it. Fi knows this.  
But she also knows: at the moment, Link is just a boy. Link is just a boy and she has scared him very, very badly.

* * *

Link misses two training sessions. Unlike the one time where he caught a cold and couldn't attend, she does not make a form and travel to the academy to check on him. He comes back to the third, and he doesn't speak to her much, his movements are stiff and the scores are terrible.

She wonders if his anger is directed at her, she wonders if it's anger at all, and then irrationally decides that she deserves it. She has only done her duty, and it still feels like she has made an error. 

He smiles at her once. "I'm sorry, Fi. I guess you got roped into all this too." 

Her Master is incorrect. She was made for this. Nothing except 'this' should be of any importance to her. Link is the only one who has been roped into anything. 

She waits two weeks. Link seems to work off most of his excitement and fear regarding his destiny over the course of ten unusually violent training sessions, and she notes the circumstances of the results should they ever fall under consideration at a later date.

"Master Link, you are aware that my memory is missing some features." 

"Yeah, you said... Are you sure there isn't anything I can do to help?" He looks worried. She wonders how she has failed her task of calming him down before she has even begun. 

"As I said before, it is likely that the things left within my memory will be awakened as and when they are of use to you. There is nothing you can do in the current circumstances to speed up this process. Your concern is unnecessary." 

Link clearly doesn't think his concern is unnecessary, but he doesn't argue. 

"As I was saying, my memory is missing some features, but I believe that I retain the ability to translate the latent message from the Goddess within this room pertaining to your destiny, should my word alone not suffice." 

"No, I believe you. It's all good." He speaks quickly. He may believe her, but she does not believe him. 

He is not lying to her with words. But he is going through the motions of training and even as he smiles and absently acts as though it's fine and he gets it, he is lying. 

"Regardless, I believe it will be beneficial for you to witness what little of the Goddess' message I am currently able to decipher." 

"That means I have to hear it, don't I?" 

"Master, it may be imperative." 

"Fine." 

She has neglected to mention that most messages are conveyed by a means that humans would consider artistic. She does not know at which point mortals began to consider music to be frivolous, but she believes it to be a date that marks a great tragedy.  
Dancing has been demoted to a social custom associated with courting and it is a crime of similar magnitude.

She interprets the message left for Link. It addresses the same information regarding his role as the Chosen Hero and adds little detail. Still, when she slows and hovers back to ground level, she sees that she has produced the intended results: Link is smiling.   
Then it becomes apparent that the right results are due to entirely the wrong reasons.  
"Fi! Your dancing was amazing!" 

"It is a means of interpreting the messages left to be by the Goddess Hylia. It fulfils its purpose to a satisfactory level." 

"But it looked so cool!"   
"That was not its purpose. Still I thank you for the praise." Fi privately decided that it was time to re-evaluate her own performance in communicating with her Master. Her use of implementing the mannerisms of Hylia's people had shown better results in more recent tests: Link beams when she thanks him. 

An improvement. 

"Do you think I could learn to dance like that?" 

"Given your species, I calculate that the probability of you learning to interpret the message of the Gods to be statistically insignificant." 

Link laughs like she's told a joke. Fi does not understand, because humour is not a concept she has yet learned to apply, and her Master must be aware of this as he is the only one she interacts with. Still, she makes a note and prepares plans. Jokes work. "I didn't mean talking with the Gods, Fi. I meant the dancing." 

She pauses. "You wish for me to teach you how to dance?" 

"Yeah. You make it look so cool!" 

"That is not part of the curriculum I have devised for you." 

"But Fi," he grins slyly, "you said you liked teaching me." 

Ah. He has tried to trap her. Either she must amend the statement that her role was to teach him and as such that was what she would classify as enjoyment, or she must reconsider his request. 

Her decision to indulge his idea will later be added to the list of events that she will use to study the odd occurrence of emotions. At the time, she excuses her lapse in judgement as she is occupied with other plans. 

"Very well. If your performance in combat lessons is adequate, I will add a lesson in dancing to your weekly syllabus." 

Link stares at her. "Wait, really? What criteria does that meet?" 

"It will not deduct from the time dedicated to essential skills. As such it does not contradict any established syllabus." 

"So you're doing this because you feel like it? You're in a good mood today! Normally I have to spend ages convincing you." 

"Master, you are mortal. You have not experienced an age, let alone plural." 

"You know what I meant." 

Then the boy stops staring at her sullenly and he must realise something because he beams at her. "Fi, you made a joke!" 

That had been the intention, yes. She was not optimistic about success given her previous attempts, and is pleasantly surprised at the unlikely outcome.

She amends the planned training. Link alternates lessons in wielding an actual sword (which is very different to the practice swords they use at the school, or so she is informed) with dancing, and he does not seem quite so scared.


	3. Chapter 3

After three months of remarkable progress, things start to go wrong again in ways she can neither diagnose nor predict.

Link is distracted and almost sad for a week before he finally discloses his thoughts to Fi. It takes prompting, several gentle reminders that her purpose is to ensure his wellbeing. Then some less than subtle statistics showing that his mood is impacting her training. 

She makes sure to be sympathetic this time. Last time she'd reminded him of statistics, it had been after he'd done poorly on a test in the academy and her efforts had only won her three days of frosty silence.

This time though, he stands there agonised before speaking. 

"Zelda is the mortal form of Hylia, isn't she?" 

Fi supposes that her Master's uncannily good guesses are something she will have to get used to. Although she now has enough data to consider the possibility that they aren't guesses at all, and instead Link has become very observant once he knows there is something to look for. 

"Yes. Do not inform her of this, for she has her own destiny to fulfil and it is not our place to interfere. If she is unaware, then that is what Her Grace wishes for." 

Fi does not mention the possibility that Zelda is aware of her divine origins and has simply opted to keep her Master in the dark. It does not seem likely, and Link does not even consider it.

Link sighs. "I'd protect her even if she wasn't a Goddess, you know. Or even if she wasn't my friend." 

She asks, not because she doubts him, but because he seems to want her to ask. Perhaps talking would make him feel better. "Why?" 

"I'm training to be a Knight. And I know I don't act very mature and I'm not as smart as Zelda or as strong as Pipit and I don't know when to stop like Fledge does, but I want to do my best. I've been doing some thinking since you told me about my destiny, and it isn't so different to being a Knight." 

He stops. He stares at the wall that separates the chamber they train in from the path back to the academy almost fondly, like he's mentally checking off a list of its inhabitants. "Because Knights protect the people who need it. And if Demise is as dangerous as you say, then everyone needs protecting." 

She thinks she knows where this is going. "But it makes a difference that it is Zelda, does it not?" 

"Yeah," Link mumbles, "she's my best friend. We protect each other." 

"Then I predict you will both fare well against the threats you must face." 

"Thanks Fi. You'll be there, won't you?" He looks relieved. Were she capable of feeling, she would share the emotion: this is addressing everything she had yet to figure out how to say.

"Of course. We are intended to face this destiny together." 

"Thanks Fi. I don't think I say it enough, you're a really good friend." 

'Friend' is still not quite the word she would use, but perhaps whatever Link's definition of the word is applies here. 

Still. Titles aside, this is an outcome she has calculated with only a thirty percent chance of occurring. Her Master is somewhat at peace with his destiny and she anticipates that his results in training will begin to improve again after this conversation. There is only one thing left to address.

"Master, how did you discover Zelda's identity?" 

"Oh," he looks embarrassed, "don't be offended?" 

That does not bode well. "It is not within my capabilities to feel offence." 

"Well, whenever I talk about my friends, you only really listen when I mention her name, so I figured that she must be important. It just took me a while to figure out why."

"I apologise if my lack of attentiveness caused you any disquiet," she says apologetically, "but I must commend the remarkable improvement in your observational skills." 

"Thanks Fi!" He chirps. "You can tell me to shut up if I irritate you, you know?" 

She will do nothing of the sort.

Still, the conversation has taken up most of their allotted training time, but it is a necessary sacrifice. Link leaves early, and for the first time in a long while, he stops to wave goodbye to the sword as he goes. 

The thought remains with her for weeks, even after he has left for the holiday that marks the end of the academic year. 

Hylia has made an excellent choice.

* * *

When her Master returns for a new year of school, he seems especially determined to progress in wielding the blade left for him. 

She adjust his training accordingly, and begins theory lessons as he works his way through steps and timed swings of the heavy blade until he has perfected them.   
He recites weak points for monsters he has never seen and jabs at imaginary targets. He also convinces her somehow to share details of the world below the clouds that have nothing to do with his destiny at all. So she'll add some information about the forest plants before launching into a talk on the tribes of moblins that live within what was once called the Faron region.

The year passes quickly and uneventfully. Well, uneventfully for her, who is removed from school drama. Link spends a while complaining that Zelda spends less time with him because she's busy with her new boyfriend. 

It does not last long, thankfully. Link's moping had significantly decreased his attention span for the months the relationship lasted.

In fact, they're nearly ending the end of the academic year when the only thing Fi would classify as a disaster occurs. 

It is on a night that they have scheduled training, so Fi doesn't suspect anything is wrong until Link steps into the cold room with bare feet and collapses in front of the blade. 

"Master? You appear to be experiencing emotional distress, what-" 

"Fi," the boy wails, "I had a nightmare." 

Ah. She goes to prepare something to say, only to fall short. She does not have a protocol for this. It's a... troubling realisation. 

Data. She needs more data to formulate a response. "Why does this trouble you? My data suggests that it is likely you have experienced a nightmare before." 

"This one felt really _real_." The boy sniffs, rubbing at his eyes with a sleeve. "It was a monster. A really big monster, and-" 

His eyes go distant with the memory, then fill with tears again. "And it was the thing I'm going to have to fight later." 

He sounds so sure. Fi, through trial and error, manages to produce a description of the monster he saw, and it is, without a doubt, the Imprisoned. This is very troubling news, because she has not felt anything indicating its return and her Master, while developing well is still very young. 

"It was so _big_ , Fi. How am I going to fight it?"

She... doesn't have an answer for them. 

"There was something like a wound on its head. Maybe there?" The child murmurs to himself. "But how would I get up there? I don't think I could climb it..." 

"Something of the size of that monster would likely cause shockwaves and strong winds as it moves. Climbing it would almost certainly result in death." 

The boy pales, but doesn't lose his thoughtful expression. "So I'd have to fly." 

He starts pacing. "But at the moment, I don't think I'd be able to get close. If there are strong winds... No, we're not allowed out in bad weather, but that has to be the closest thing..." 

"I believe this plan requires some more thought." Fi intones. Her words work, her Master jolts from his thoughts like she'd materialised right in front of him. 

Still, there is something about the entire event that does not align well with the rest of the data she has collected. Never before has her Master given any indication of prophetic dreams, but he has yet to see the beast he must fight. She makes him promise to tell her immediately should he have a dream like that again. She is not satisfied until he has made the same promise three times.

She doesn't give him the statistics she has calculated. She believes it will trouble him needlessly after he has already experienced significant distress. This, in hindsight, is her first mistake. 

"What do you think I should do, Fi?" 

"In the short term, I believe you should return to the academy and attempt to warm up. You are shivering, and prolonged exposure to the cold will increase your chances of becoming ill. Having warmed up, I suggest you get some rest if you can. The seal on the Imprisoned remains intact, your destiny will not arrive for some years yet, and certainly not tomorrow. However, resting will increase the quality of the contributions you make when we strategize." 

He nods. "You're right, Fi. Sorry for bothering you." 

"I am always here for you Master."

And he leaves. She suspects with an unnatural heaviness that he will not manage to sleep much for that night at all. 

The next day, he has dark circles under his eyes. Fi decides that there will be no lessons because they will not be productive and rather tellingly, Link is too tired to argue. The day after, Link returns to his training as usual. 

They discuss tactics, but not in depth. She does not dismiss the idea of flying entirely. It is her second mistake. 

Things return to normal. Her Master continues with his remarkable improvement, spends a day flying kites with Zelda until one of them gets stuck in a tree. He spends a good ten minutes explaining to Fi exactly how he managed to scrape his hands on the bark trying to dislodge it from the branches one evening. 

His lessons continue. The days pass quickly, and he does not dream again.   
There is a moment of surprise one morning. Link sneaks into the room and draws the sword from the pedestal. He's sheathing the sword and placing it on his back as she forms. 

"Master? Why are you here? Judging by the current time, you should be gone for the holidays. Why do you need the sword?" 

Link grins sheepishly. "I forgot to tell you. I don't really like the idea of you being here all by yourself and lonely, so I thought you could come with me for a change! You can keep training me too."

She nods. "That is an acceptable plan, you show remarkable foresight. Are you able to leave the island without being seen with the sword?" 

He nods. "I already said goodbye to everyone, so no one is looking for me since they all think I left a while ago." 

He has a baggy coat probably intended to shelter him from the worst of the wind as he flies, but he throws it over the sword and while he looks very obvious, it isn't as eye catching as any of the alternatives. 

"Hey Fi," he whispers as he walks, and while she is confined to the blade on his back, she can hear him perfectly well, "I've just realised that this is your first time flying." 

She doesn't respond. He has come to expect this and continues whispering anyway. 

"Are you scared of heights? Say something now if you are because otherwise it'll be a bit sudden." 

She remains silent. Had she been sure she would not be observed, she would have responded that her fearing falling would be highly illogical given that the only part of her that is suspect to gravity is the blade...

The blade strapped to Link's back, but he is a clumsy child and she very much doubts that he has flown on his Loftwing while holding a weapon before and should she fall to the surface she is not confident he would be able to retrieve her in a timely manner. This would, of course, drastically decrease his chances of success in most tasks entailed in his destiny, which is not an acceptable outcome. 

Before she can request that he hold the blade more securely, the world lurches and she doubts he will hear anything over the rushing wind. He whistles loudly and a bird cries out in answer and then-

They're flying. 

Fi waits until Link has been flying for almost half an hour before materialising and speeding along beside him. Skyloft is just a spec on the distance and there isn't another rider in sight.

"Fi!" He removes a hand to wave at her and she fights back the urge to instruct him to use both hands to hold on to the bird. He is experienced at this, he must know what he is doing, but the urge to remind him of the importance of safety lingers. "I didnt' know you could do that. It's so cool!" 

"Master," she dismisses the praise, "I request that you check that the sword is fastened securely." 

His face falls. "I told you to say something if you were scared." 

"I am not scared. I do not experience fear. Master, if the blade were to fall, it is unlikely that you would be able to retrieve it." 

He looks aghast as he checks the fastenings and tightens them. "You know I won't laugh at you, right? Everyone is scared of something." 

"While your statement is correct and you have demonstrated the strength of your character, your judgement is flawed. I do not feel fear." 

"Okay." Link nods, clearly not believing her, despite the fact she feels she has communicated herself very clearly. "I understand." 

Still, the sword is now secured to her satisfaction. Closer inspection would reveal that there had never been a threat, because her Master, while stubborn and foolish at times, was not inclined to take unnecessary risks with the safety of his friends. 

She returns to the blade and Link starts humming a song as they fly. The Loftwing seems to enjoy it, if the occasional screeches of something resembling birdsong prove to be data worthy of consideration. 

After what feels like an age but is actually closer to an hour and a half, she forms again, her form breaking through the vapour in the sky. "Master, I notice we have been flying for quite some time. Is the commute supposed to be this long?" 

Link nods. "Yep! There's a reason I don't live at home and fly into school every day like most students do." 

She pauses. "Are there not regulations regarding flight? Is it wise for you to make a journey of this length alone?" 

Her Master shrugs carelessly. "I'm good at flying. It's fine." 

She lets the issue drop. Already, Link has demonstrated superior knowledge when it comes to matters related to flying, so she will defer to his judgement. 

"You seem uneasy, though. Do you want to remain in the sword until I need you?" 

"The chances of you arriving successful will be increased should you be allowed to continue without disruption." She excuses herself quickly. The risks of this seem too high, but she cannot quite work out the logic of her deductions. 

She is sure she will find her conclusions to be sound once she has had sufficient time to work out the explanations behind them. The only new data she is granted in the flight is that Link's Loftwing has favourite songs to chirp along to, if the increasing contributions are any reliable indication, so she has plenty of time for analysis. 

Link arrives home. He greets his elderly parents on the small island they call home. They are fortunate to have an entire floating island for their settlement and no neighbours, and while the Loftwing noses its way into something that resembles a stable, Link enters his childhood home with the sword on his shoulders. 

His parents don't so much as bat an eye, instead gushing over how much he's grown. Her Master laughs, thoroughly embarrassed. She retreats further into her own consciousness shortly after; for reasons she can't explain, she feels like an intruder here. 

But Link excuses himself to his room and throws the sword onto a neatly made bed. "What do you think, Fi?" 

"It is a nice home." She offers. "Very peaceful." 

Link nods, pleased. "Hey, what do you think my objective for the day should be?" 

"I suggest you work on whatever your teachers told you to do." 

"Fi! You're no fun!" 

"It is not my job to be 'fun', Master." 

"Fine, if I do my homework, can we carry on with dancing lessons afterwards?" 

"Very well." 

They settle into an easy routine. Fi analyses the data she collects from each day and concludes that her Master has moved on from his nightmare and is not so concerned with the distant threat. This, as she will learn, is entirely incorrect. 

One day, the change her Master has been waiting for occurs. The skies darken, the winds pick up. Link slips outside just after dawn, and wakes up his Loftwing, and it's only when he leads the bird outside that Fi realises he isn't simply checking on the bird out of concern, no he intends to fly.

She forms as he's triple-checking the fastenings on the sword. 

"Master, what do you intend to do?" 

"If I have to fly to beat that monster, then I need more practice with bad winds. This is the best way to get that practice." 

His Loftwing is staring at the brewing storm. Fi does not had sufficient data to gauge its response to the task at hand, but it does not seem probable that she could enlist it to dissuade Link from this plan. This is not a good outcome.

"This plan is ill-advised. I calculate a sixty percent chance of danger. And a significant chance of injury." 

"Fi, I'm going to have to take risks if I want to get better at this." 

"There will be no knights here if you fall. This location, while isolated, does not grant safety. Your instructors have good reasons to forbid flight in bad weather." 

"I suspect they also have good reason not to teach us the spin attack until next year, but you taught me that last month. Fi, you know better than I do that I can't just take the leisurely way out if I have to be ready for my destiny." 

She fails. She cannot provide a satisfactory rebuke. He will go ahead with this plan. 

"Are you really scared, Fi?" He asks, but he's already mounting his Loftwing. It chirps at him and makes its way to the edge, but her Master does not push it towards flight just yet. "Because I can leave you here if you really want." 

"Master," she reminds him, "I do not experience fear." 

"I do," he speaks so quietly that it's almost lost to the storm, "I'm scared, Fi. But I'm glad you're coming with me. That makes it less scary." 

Before she can answer, he nudges the bird and then all she can hear is the wind.   
In hindsight, it goes rather well at first. At the time she does not think it goes well, because there is no humming or laughing on this flight, and the bird struggles against the stronger winds. What Fi will recall of the flight is not any useful data but is instead the sound of powerful wing-beats and her Master's hand curled tight around bright feathers.

Irrationally, she keeps calculating and making new estimates for the chances that they'll fall, and this is before the storm starts. 

If she were asked, despite her flawless timekeeping skills, she would be unable to pinpoint the exact moment the winds picked up, the moment the rain started or the first roar of thunder. 

"Fi," Link yells over the sound of the rain, "this may have been a mistake." 

Fi disagrees. By now, she has enough data that there is nothing uncertain about it. This _is_ a mistake. 

"I advise you return home." She makes sure her words ring loud and clear, but she does not risk distracting him by making a form to interact with him as she usually does. And he does not once glance back at the blade like he usually does, which means that this is not a normal situation in the slightest. 

"I'm-" 

A particuarly nasty gust of wind has him scrabbling at the bird as he's nearly thrown off. 

"-working on it!" 

Fi has kept enough of her timekeeping abilities to know that they only made it back to Link's home approximately thirty-seven minutes after he makes this particular claim. 

Within sixteen of those minutes, they're very nearly hit by lightning. Fi will only be ever to recall very little of the moment, it is over very quickly. There is a sudden flash, something bright, something blinding. Link is close enough to feel how it might have burned. The bird makes a shrill noise of alarm, but her Master does not scream. 

He steers his Loftwing the best he can, and if his hands shake, none of them are in any position to react to it. There is more lightning in the distance. Fi counts the seconds between the rumbles of thunder, and knows without asking that her Master is doing the same. 

They make it back to the island, but it is a close thing.

* * *

Link spends the rest of the day apologising to his Loftwing, curled up with it in the straw that lines the structure meant to house his family's birds. After the second hour, he stops crying, which Fi regards as an improvement, if a relatively small one. 

Somewhere between the second hour and the third hour, he exhausts himself and ends up asleep. It trills softly at him, and nudges him with its beak to check he's actually asleep. Fi does not know the bird as well as her Master does, but she suspects that all has been forgiven. 

When Link's parents finally think to look for him, they see him sleeping softly in the straw next to his Loftwing, tucked underneath a crimson wing. 

"Silly boy must have been worried about how his bird would handle the storm." Are the fond words Fi hears. 

A sharp, disapproving intake of breath. "He's gone and got himself soaked. He'll catch a cold if we aren't careful." 

Then come footsteps. They mean to remove Link, and she is suddenly painfully aware that the sword is not exactly well hidden. The Loftwing thankfully decides to redeem itself, and as it shifts to allow the two humans access to their son, a talon carefully moves the sword deeper into the straw and out of sight.   
Link is carried away. Presumably, he has been moved to his bed, or warmed up. 

She materialises and stares at the crimson Loftwing. It stares back. 

"You also care for Master Link." She speaks to it on the assumption it can at least somewhat comprehend her. 

It stares at her, then blinks once. She, rather generously, takes this as a sign of understanding. She should be stating the obvious, there is no need for a response, so the data she gathers should not impact her approach yet.

"You must also understand that the actions taken today presented a preventable risk. Should you allow Master Link to indulge in such behaviour again, according to the correlation I have found, the chances of him being in danger will increase."

The bird has not blinked again. Perhaps she should study the behaviour of Loftwings- if Link's companion is to be an ally in her efforts to protect her Master then she must ensure reliable communication. 

"Are you willing to aid me?" 

The bird looks her dead in the eye. Then slowly, it lowers its head, and picks up the sword in its beak. She watches it passively, wondering if this is the sign of agreement she has been waiting for. 

It starts shaking the blade furiously. Fi was designed with many purposes and a vast array of functions, and still she finds herself lacking in this exact situation she has never managed to anticipate. 

"Stop that." 

The bird does not stop. 

"Stop." 

For some reason far beyond her comprehension, repeating herself actually works. The bird drops the sword unceremoniously, then looks between her and the blade several times. It makes a disappointed noise.

"Have we come to an agreement?" She asks. 

The bird tilts its head at her, then settles in the straw and tucks its wing over the sword.

"Do you understand me?" She wonders. 

The bird goes to sleep. It lacks the courtesy to provide her with anything resembling an answer. She does not feel annoyance, but she does count the exact number of seconds until Link, hair still messy from sleep, comes running in sheepishly to retrieve her. 

She must be mistaken, but it seems the bird stares after her as they leave the stable.

* * *

Link has an apology for her as soon as he's sure his parents won't overhear him.

Unfortunately, while Fi has anticipated the apology due to past behavioural patterns, but she has completely failed to prepare for the tears. 

"I'm sorry Fi," he sniffs, "you told me not to and I wouldn't listen." 

This is not the intended result. "While it is good that you are able to recognise your shortcomings, I accept the blame for being unable to dissuade you from your ill-fated plan." 

He is thirteen, she reminds herself. He is still a child and children make mistakes. He will learn and that is what matters. 

"No, you told me. Not your fault I wouldn't listen." 

This starts a round of very alarming sobs. Fi is entirely uncertain what to do, and in hindsight will decide that checking her memory for any relevant data will never provide satisfactory results as it merely distracts her from the problem at hand: namely comforting the child.

"A-and I know that you've been... been trying to t-teach me better and-" 

"Master, the reasoning behind your plan was sound. The only thing lacking was the implementation, which we have yet to address in lessons."

She double checks her conclusions. "I do not feel disappointment, but if I did this would not fulfil my criteria for it. You have been foolish, not malicious. It is an easily remedied mistake." 

Link will tell her later that he was crying from relief. He will not attempt to provide justification for his attempt to hug her incorporeal form, and she will not request it. In the end, he settles for awkwardly hugging the blade while she watches, desperately looking for any shred of data that might explain his actions. 

She might not understand it, but a hug is undeniably a vast improvement from being manhandled by a large, affectionate bird.

* * *

Link carries on practicing with the sword, learning how dance and dutifully coming up with strategies to defeat monsters over the rest of his break. He promises her three times before and after each flight that he wasn't doing anything stupid. The bird nods with him, and she doesn't know if it actually understands a single words he says.

She does not ask him at the time, because the Loftwing starts craning its head to reach the sword on his back, nudging the hilt with its beak. Thankfully, Link stops it, but Fi simply adds the new data to the long list of reasons why the bird is an unreliable ally. 

When she asks him later, the only explanation he provides is 'it understands enough', which is less than useful considering she has no idea what qualifies as 'enough'.

Link does not offer more information on his bird and instead promises, very optimistically, not to do anything stupid for the entire school year. 

Given the very obvious pattern in the sets of data she collects, she does not think that this is a probable outcome. Still, she appreciates the sentient behind the promise.

* * *

He lasts an entire two months with that promise. As seems to be the habit when things start going wrong, or at least become abnormally eventful, he bursts into the chamber on a night they had not scheduled training. 

"Fi, help!" 

She materialises. "How can I assist you, Master Link?" 

"You never show your emotions, right? How do I do that?" 

She pauses. "Experiencing emotion is an abnormality for me. That is not the case for your kind and I calculate that you will experience greater difficulties in being neutral. Especially given your past performance, Master." 

He groans, hiding his face in his hands. 

"What problem requires this solution?" She inquired. There was nothing she could think of on the islands within the sky that should justify such a response. 

"I like someone." Link mumbled. 

"I do not understand your predicament. Surely it would be both easier and more beneficial to conceal dislike." 

"No, Fi. I _like_ someone. And I keep messing up in front of them. It's so embarrassing and Zelda keeps laughing at me." 

She pauses. She runs several tests with all the data she has collected and there is only one conclusion, even if it seems remarkably improbable. "Are you referring to romantic attraction?" 

The boy who is on his way to becoming an admirable Hero groans in pain. "Don't. Don't say it like that. I take it back, you're worse than Zelda." 

So. That was a positive answer. 

"As you are unlikely to develop such feelings for any enemies you will encounter when fulfilling your destiny, this is beyond my area of expertise."

"Fi, you're my friend! Friends are supposed to help with stuff like this." 

"Past data suggests that Zelda is also your friend. Her contributions do not seem to have aided you greatly. As such, I find your statement to be false." 

He glares at her weakly. "That was just cruel." She does not detect any considerable degree of anger, so she can conclude that his words lack sincerity.

"I suggest you put your training to use and attempt to devise your own solution. If you can find a way for me to assist you, I will endeavour to do so." 

Link spends a good ten minutes pacing.   
"Can you teach me to keep my composure under pressure? Maybe then I'll at least stop messing up in front of Pipit." 

Fi had already planned lessons on the matter of keeping a level head in combat and when situations became stressful, but she had considered them to be less pressing than establishing a foundation in advanced tactics and skills with a blade. Still, if Link had requested them, then she would oblige. 

"Very well. We will begin whenever you are ready." 

"Now. Right now. Please."

"I will add it to your lesson schedule. However, I advise we begin the combat sequence for the week. Should your success rate continue, I calculate a seventy percent chance you will have mastered the ending blow by the end of this academic year."

"That's great, so long as I've mastered walking in a straight line by the end of the week." 

She considers this. "Do I need to be worried, Master?" 

"No! No, I'm being dramatic."

Her Master, Fi realises, is a disaster.

* * *

Fi is a being made to be adaptable. Her vast skills include quick and accurate analysis of enemy movements, combat advice, a good memory, being able to process data faster than most other sentient races, telepathic communication with some of Hylia's creations and several forms of magic that can be utilised through wielding her blade. 

Exactly none of these skills involve listening to a teenage boy ramble about his crush. She forbids Link from talking about it after the third awful week of receiving endless unnecessary data. 

Link is sheepish, and tries extra hard with the newest training sequence. She appreciates the effort. 

Still, he is in a good mood for the entire time he is obsessing over what Fi assumes to be an unremarkable boy, no matter what her Master claims to the contrary. She had worried about him, and she quietly suspects that he has nightmares about lightning now, but has no evidence to back it up. 

She does not spend too much time analysing the situation. The boy makes her Master happy, and that is enough. 

Until, of course, it isn't and he turns up to a scheduled training only for her to discover that things have gone very wrong somewhere and she has yet again been unaware. Though, given the subject matter, she can assign blame only to herself.

"Fi, think we can head to the caves behind the waterfall for some target practice tonight?"

She looks at his face and red-rimmed eyes. He had seemed so cheerful at their last meeting, a mere three days ago. "Given recent events, I conclude that things with Pipit did not go well." 

"I really don't want to talk about it." 

She agrees. Not because he needs the practice (he doesn't), and it isn't even a night where she's planned combat training. They were supposed to spend their hours together discussing the weak points on a particularly nasty breed of ancient insect he is unlikely to ever encounter, but Link needs to hit something, if she reads his expressions as well as her data suggests she does. 

Also, she finds the excuse conveniently, she needs more data on how her Master operates under emotional duress. So far the only information she has is a silent boy beneath a stormy sky, shaking hands and scared eyes. But there is more to that data after she spends more time interpreting it: swift certainty, split-second decisions and safety. 

In time, her initial hypothesis will be proven absolutely correct: Link functions extremely well under pressure. 

They had discovered the cave behind the waterfall during a stealth training exercise, where Link had to successfully navigate Skyloft in darkness while remaining undetected. Link had learnt to really dislike remlits in those times, until at least he mastered the art of keeping his footsteps quiet enough as to not wake the sleeping felines. 

Given that they have very sensitive ears, perhaps more so than most monsters, Fi's data suggests that attempts to avoid being clawed by a small animal has done wonders for his stealth. 

The fact that the cave was discovered by Link desperately trying to run away from a particularly determined remlit is something that Fi has been asked never to mention again. The fact that it fills with monsters as no Knights really patrol the area since it isn't open to public access is something that Fi is less willing to ignore. 

Her Master is given the much needed opportunity to fight several breeds of monsters. While the few keese and other such pests prove no real threat to her Master given his years of training, the experience of having a target and fighting multiple opponents at once, which is a very valuable thing indeed.  
And now, she learns something new. Apparently hitting things with a sword is very good stress relief. 

Fi hovers behind Link as he makes short work of all the enemies in the cave. He beats his usual time- likely due to a vicious swing that takes out three keese at once- by a very significant margin. Then he sits by a pool of water and stares blankly at the water.  
Fi materialises next to him and hovers next to him. 

"You don't have to worry about me talking about Pipit anymore." He says dully, like this should be good information. It is irrelevant, the important thing is that he's sad. 

"Why is that, Master Link?" 

"He has a girlfriend now." Link sighs. "They're... everywhere." 

"I see." Fi murmurs. She doesn't.

"I know they don't mean to be obnoxious. And he hasn't done anything wrong at all. They're a cute couple, really!" 

He pokes one foot into the water, then stares at the ripples as they spread across the surface, catching the few shafts of moonlight. 

"It just sucks." 

Protocol suggests an expression of sympathy. "I'm sorry." 

Link shrugs. "I'll get over it." 

She will have to take his word for it. Thankfully, her Master proves yet again to be very trustworthy, and within a month, he is closer to his normal, excitable self. The rest of the year passes uneventfully, and with no more cases of feelings. 

Fi experiences an interesting new feeling of her own when she realises that this year's unusual event did not involve flying. The only flight she experiences is the trip to Link's home for the holiday, and that is blissfully normal.   
She spends some time contemplating what might be the next thing to go wrong in the following academic year, and concludes that given her Master's progress, he will be well equipped to handle it.


	4. Chapter 4

Link has been back at the Knight Academy for two full days before something goes horribly wrong. Yet again, keeping the trend, it does not happen on a night when they schedule training. Instead, he slips through the door, shuts it quietly in case there are any remlits wandering nearby, walks calmly to the sword and sits down. 

"Hey Fi," he calls voice oddly light, "remember a few years ago?" 

"Master Link, I doubt you have forgotten the capabilities of my memory, which specific event are you referring to?" She reminds him, already knowing that something has gone horribly wrong as every criteria has been met.

He is pale. His eyes are scared. Perhaps it is telling of the training about self control under duress, but his hands do not shake. 

"When you made me promise like twenty times to tell you if I had another abnormal nightmare about the thing in the pit." 

Oh. Oh no. She is already extending her senses to assess what little she can read of the seal below the clouds. Absently, she corrects him. "Master, you exaggerate. I only requested you promise three times." 

"Oh good," he says faintly, "you remember."

She finishes her tests.   
"I am able to reassure you that the seal still holds strong, you are not needed on the surface yet. I predict that it will take several years for the seal to weaken to the point where intervention becomes necessary." 

Still, he is unsettled. He paces the room with still hands and frantic eyes and she does not know how to help him. 

Once again, she is forced to act blindly, with no prior data of a desirable outcome to guide her. "If it would be of some comfort to you, I could accompany you to school until you feel more at ease. This would ensure that I could inform you the instant the situation with the seal changes."

He freezes. By the look on his face, she can tell that would indeed be a great comfort to him. "But what about secrecy? Won't they see you?" 

She pauses. Her form flickers as she makes minute changes to the magic sustaining it. "I believe I have sufficient data on the residents of Skyloft to ensure that my form cannot be detected by them. Only you will be able to see me, in her mortal form even Her Grace would not sense me." 

There is a very long pause. Something has occurred to Link that has not occurred to her. "So your form is a kind of illusion?" 

"Most of the time, yes that is an accurate description." 

"So you're capable of illusion magic or whatever it's called?" 

"I apologise if I have not conveyed this information clearly in the past. Yes, that is one of my abilities." She wonders what possible importance this could have. Her current objective is to remain unseen, not craft illusions. 

"So you could change how they see the sword? Make it look like an ordinary training sword?"

Fi spends several long moments wondering how such a solution did not occur to her in the first place. She believes the human expression would be that she could kick herself for this. Or it could be that Link has grown more creative when presented with a problem.

The sword in front of him shimmers. It takes several attempts, but soon it looks identical to the training swords that students of the academy use. Link carefully places it in a sheath that seems to most to be the standard equipment for an ordinary student. 

The second the illusion is set up, Link takes off running, clutching the sword with a grip that she would normally suggest to be a little too tight. This is not a situation that she would classify as normal so she does not mention it, although she is very pleased to note that his distress does not impact his stealth, and his return to his room in the school is soundless.

His attempts to rest enough to cope the next day are less quiet, because Fi has never actually witnessed one of his nightmares, this is new information. She does not make another form, and the blade rests still and solemn on a cluttered desk next to a container of paint in a very familiar shade of red. 

Link thrashes in his sleep, muttering for Zelda to run. He wakes up. Fi reminds him that the seal is still capable of holding the Imprisoned, and remembers a boy with brighter eyes telling her about his new hobby and how he wanted to carve a figure of a Loftwing.  
The cycle repeats. Her Master drifts back to sleep, Fi prepares the reminder for when he will inevitably wake up.

He has accomplished that goal, it appears he has taught himself this new hobby very well. She takes careful note, in case she needs a distraction or something entirely unrelated to his destiny to calm him down later. 

Irrationally, she wishes that Link will never have to face the monster in the pit. It is unlikely, bordering on impossible that he will escape that task. It is better him than anyone else, he is the only one prepared, the only one she will follow, and still for reasons she can't explain, she wishes.

When Link eventually comes to the same conclusion as her, that sleep is pointless, he asks her a question and for the first time, she thinks of lying to him. 

"If we fail, if that thing gets out, will it eat her?" 

She cannot lie to him. It goes against her very purpose, and still it feels cruel to tell the truth. "We will not fail. The monster will not escape the pit, because we are prepared for it."   
Another irrational wish. She wishes she has not trained Link so well that he can see the truth anyway in the things she left unsaid.

* * *

Fi's first day accompanying Link to his lessons in school is apparently very different from his normal experience, and not just because of her presence. 

It starts with Link ready to join the other students for breakfast a good ten minutes before the hall even opens. By this time, he has apologised to Fi at least ten times for placing the sword in his wardrobe because it's not a day he has combat training and it'd look odd for him to carry around a blade and even more strange should he have a weapon on display in her room. 

She has reassured him twice that this will not effect her presence in the school. She can extend her awareness to a significant diameter beyond the confines of the blade and while this would mean little if the terrain separating them were vast, it means she can easily move around the building. 

"It's disrespectful! Fi, I am so sorry for shoving you in a wardrobe." 

She forms just to demonstrate her unchanging expression. He has told her that her default face looks rather unimpressed. "I do not feel offence." 

Then she moves out of the way so he can access the door, because someone is knocking on it very loudly. 

"Wake- oh, you're up early!" Zelda exclaims brightly, before her face falls. "That's not good." 

"I can get up on time without you, you know." Link mutters, but the tired slump of his shoulders makes it clear that he isn't angry. 

"No, you really can't," Zelda sighs, "and when you do, you look terrible!" 

"Thanks." 

She punches his shoulder lightly, then grabs his arm and drags him down the hallway, barely pausing to let him lock the door to his room as they go. Fi has a hypothesis that most days start with her Master being dragged to breakfast regardless of how much sleep he's had.   
Fi can recognise the ones that join her Master at the table from Link's stories and from their very brief venture into the chamber beneath the Goddess Statue years ago. Fledge takes one look at Link's face and squeaks something incomprehensible and rushes off. By the time he returns with coffee, Pipit has arrived.

Fi notices that he arrives alone. She observes the students while Zelda adds a definitely unhealthy amount of sugar to the coffee, and sees a girl who looks several years older stop to glare at Pipit before continuing talking to her friends. 

Ah. Link had never told her how Pipit's relationship ended up, but she supposes she has her answer.

She wonders if she has entirely misunderstood the concept of a greeting since she has awoken, because not once does anyone say 'hello' or 'good morning'. No, Pipit sits down, stares at the others and then says "I'm sorry." 

Fi is confused. As far as she is aware (and she does briefly check the data from Link's recent ramblings) he has done nothing to offend any of them. 

"Don't say that yet, his day might get better!" Fledge tells him sternly. 

Link grunts. Her Master is clearly not so optimistic. 

He is right not to be. His lessons, as far as she can judge by reading his expressions, do not go well. He is sluggish and reluctant to take notes for at least his first two lessons. This is, for at least the first hour, entirely due to the boy with bright hair she later learns is called Groose. He has a habit of elbowing the table so hard it moves every time Link tries to write.   
At least three times per lessons, Link meets her gaze in a silent request. Each time, she reassures him that the seal is strong. The seal is holding. Zelda is safe.

Still, he does not ask it and she does not bring it up, but by the end of the day, she can tell that his fears will not fade so easily. Fi does not need to be told that her presence at the school will be needed for quite some time.

It does, however, give her an early warning when things start to go wrong. As usual, it does not happen in the time they set aside for training. No, this particular chain of misfortune starts at the end of Link's last lesson for the day, roughly a month after she first started accompanying him to school. 

At least it happens on a day when Link has a combat lesson, so the sword is fastened securely to his back. The presence of the blade does nothing to keep her Master awake through Instructor Owlan's lecture on plant distribution on islands of different altitudes.   
Fi, for once, does not remind Link to keep focused in the lesson. None of this information relates to the lands beneath the clouds and thus will do nothing to keep him alive. Rest is far more important, as he is still having regular nightmares. 

Still, she suspects there's an error in her judgement when the Instructor calls Link back as the other students file out of the classroom. This is unusual: it is not the first time Link has blatantly slept through a lesson and still it seems to be the only time his teachers have actually noticed.

"You're not in trouble Link, don't worry! There have just been a few... odd developments regarding your Loftwing." 

Neither of them expect that. 

"R-really?" 

"Yes. It's quite fascinating really. But that bird of yours has taken to watching the Knights' Loftwings as I train them in the spiral charge and it appears to be trying to learn the move for itself." 

"That's definitely odd." Her Master narrowly avoids sounding guilty. Instructor Owlan appears oblivious, so Fi calculates that the near blunder only as a ten percent chance of causing suspicion.

"Yes! It's not uncommon for Loftwings to emulate their rider's behaviour, but this seems to be the opposite. Your Loftwing seems to be taking the initiative while you're far more relaxed." 

Fi can reasonably assess once more that the Knight Academy instructors are of questionable competence. Her Master's most notable attribute his work ethic, and he chooses wisely to apply himself to lessons beyond the school's syllabus. 'Relaxed' is not an apt description at all. 

"Maybe," Link says too quickly because he's only just thought of the lie, "it's because it's such a rare breed! And we don't know much about it?" 

"Yes, perhaps that is the case." 

"My Loftwing isn't accidentally hurting itself at all, is it?" 

"No, no! Your bird shows remarkable talent! Once I noticed what it was doing, I tried to shoo it away, but well, it's very stubborn. Perhaps you could learn a thing or too from it."   
Link laughs, embarrassed. 

Fi, who knows that her Master's stubbornness is another one of his key attributes, does not find the Instructor's assessments to be accurate in the slightest. The instructor dismisses Link and as soon as her Master leaves the classroom, he takes off running. 

Fi can safely say that she's never seen someone hurl themselves off an island out of sheer embarrassment before. Link manages it well. 

His bird catches him, happily oblivious to the fact that Fi believes that she will witness her master attempt to give a lecture for the first time. It will make for interesting data, and she reminds herself very carefully that she does not feel satisfaction, but if she were prone to such things, this would be the moment for it. 

"So I've heard that you're trying to learn the spiral charge even though they all say you aren't ready yet." Link murmurs to his Loftwing as they fly. It squawks proudly at him. As Fi suspected, it does not show so much as a shred of remorse.

"You'll get me found out if you're not careful." 

A mournful trill. 

"Yeah, I know you didn't mean it. They aren't even suspicious really, since I'm so lazy they think you're just getting worked up over it." 

Perhaps Fi should reconsider the bird's position as an ally as the noise of offense it makes aligns with her own conclusions. Her Master is most certainly not lazy in the slightest.   
They fly in silence for a minute, and Link waits until the angry wing beats have calmed into something more regular before speaking. 

"So... how far along did you get in learning it?" 

Fi suddenly has data to support the instructor's conclusion about Loftwings' behaviour matching that of their riders. The excited croak the bird makes is not dignified in the least and it reminds her very much of her Master. 

The bird speeds up, then thinks better of it. However far it has progressed, it does not deem itself skilled enough to attempt the manoeuvre with its rider on its back just yet.   
Link pats it reassuringly. "You'll get there."

And so the flight continues as normal. Nothing becomes alarming until they've landed. It is not a conclusion Fi ever expected to reach. 

"So you want to keep up training in high winds in case we ever have to fight anything?" 

Fi knows she feels an emotion right there and then when the bird bobs its head in a nod. Hatred.

"Master," she implores, "I believe another strategy that does not involve flight would be advisable." 

"For an enemy that can reach the sky?"

She remains silent. Then, reluctantly: "It would likely be a successful strategy." 

"And do you have any better ideas?" 

"No." Not yet. 

"So I think we'll have to keep trying. If you want-" 

He's about to offer to leave her behind again, isn't he? 

"-I can leave the sword on an island so you don't need to worry about falling." 

"You must not leave me behind, Master. I also request that you add more details to this plan before attempting any practical trials." She does not intend to snap, but it happens anyway.

He flinches guiltily. Fi remembers rather late that he still dislikes storms to this day. "I promise I'll run anything I do past you this time." 

She works on changing her expression into something softer, because the default unimpressed expression might genuinely upset him at this point. Still, she cannot oppose the idea of flying forever: should the Imprisoned break free and seek them beyond the cloud barrier then the Loftwing, no matter how disagreeable she finds it, will be their only hope.   
Another part of the story of the creation of Skyloft that has faded to mythology and remains frustratingly absent from her memories, they cannot remember if Loftwings can descend beyond the cloud barrier. 

It is this, more than anything else, that has Link considering alternatives. He sits there in the silence after normal nightmares and comes up with ideas in the early hours of the morning. In the evenings, he often disregards scheduled training altogether and spends at least a few hours every day perfecting the motions for the few seals Fi can remember. 

Months pass. Fi does not allow herself to forget that the Loftwing is learning also, and she knows something will change soon. There are improvements, something to balance the otherwise worrying events. Her Master requests updates on the seal's status less and less.   
His mood improves and the nightmares become less frequent as three months pass. 

Then, one weekend, Link is woken up early. Not by a nightmare, not by Zelda knocking on his door, but by his Loftwing tapping its beak excitedly on the window. Fi knows exactly what this means before her Master has even rolled out of bed.

"You finished it?" 

Fi materialises behind Link to give the Loftwing her best unimpressed expression. It does absolutely nothing to deter it from nodding proudly and Link from attempting to hug the bird through the window. 

"I don't have plans for today, how do you feel about flying, Fi?" 

She does not like the idea at all, but she does not object. As her Master has said on multiple occasions, it is not a plan they can afford to dismiss just yet. She will also reluctantly admit that the bird's dedication to the matter is impressive and useful.

That does not mean she shares Link's enthusiasm as they spiral through the sky, and like he knows this, Link gives her time to adjust before allowing his bird to demonstrate its new ability. 

"I just think we shouldn't get caught trying it, because that might raise some awkward questions we really don't want to answer, and if people end up suspicious then that makes everything else harder." 

He speaks loudly to be heard over the wind. Fi is not entirely sure if he aims his words towards her or the bird. 

"And it's not like there's a rule about going on long flights over the weekend. Some people even go home for the weekend, if the island they live on is close enough, but my journey is a bit too long for that..." 

The Loftwing makes a noise that suggests it would be willing to attempt the flight anyway, no matter what her Master thinks about the distance. Fi predicts that her Master is absolutely right about the distance and that the Loftwing is being foolish. 

Link appears to agree with her, because he very quickly changes the subject. "I think we're very alone now, let's try it!" 

The bird squawks happily, Link's grip tightens and all of a sudden the world is tilting and the only data she can collect is the rush of air and Link's delighted yell. 

When she can collect more data as the world has righted itself, her Master is laughing giddily and she realises the startling fact that it is possible for a bird to look smug. Still, as the bird obliges every demand for a repeat performance until Link is dizzy, it gets easier for Fi to keep her bearings.

It is a good time. The new skill greatly improves their chances of being victorious in combat above the clouds, Link is happy and the chances of them all dying horribly by falling seem to be less and less.

Flying, she decides after a weekend with minimal time spent on solid ground, isn't so bad in light of this new data.

* * *

"Master, please clarify the details of your final plan once more." 

Link smiles at her indulgently. "Okay! So, now that my Loftwing knows how to do the spiral charge, I think we're ready to try strong winds again, but safely this time!" 

Fi nods. "Very well. List the precautions you will be taking in this endeavour." 

Her Master nods, and starts counting the list off on his fingers. "So first of all, you'll be there. Then I have my sailcloth, so even if I fall I won't die. Next, we'll be going to Thunderhead and there are islands there so we can land if we have to. And while the area is known for strong winds and the occasional monster, Levias is sometimes there so it rarely storms." 

"And we are unlikely to run into any other humans?" 

"No! Levias is sometimes there, there are strong winds and monsters, we're the only people that are ever going to want to go there. Trust me." 

She does trust Link, so she approves the plan and the three of them set off to explore Thunderhead. The Loftwing is calmer than normal and seems to share Link's cheerful determination. The flight to Thunderhead is not, as far as her data indicates, a bad one.  
The flight within Thunderhead is a challenge, but it is not bad. The bird slowly shows signs of improvement, it learns how to fight against the strong winds and Link praises it more and more often, which is what Fi uses to assess its progress since she knows very little of the art of flying. 

She reconsiders her opinion of the bird. It is a good ally to have. 

The fact that the bird has somewhat redeemed itself as far as her assessments go does little to help them when they finally get caught on one of their trips. It is not an instructor who catches them, it is not a Knight concerned for her Master's safety, it is not even a fellow student. It is the guardian of the skies itself that stumbles upon them.

"Oh?" The spirit left to guard the sky by Hylia rumbles. "A student in Thunderhead, what do you have to say for yourself, boy?" 

Guiltily, the Loftwing lands on an island and the leviathan doesn't move, unimpressed. Link looks at the enormous form staring down at him. "Please don't tell Instructor Owlan, Lord Levias?" 

Levias' laugh shakes the clouds like thunder. "You will have to convince me, then. I was put here to ensure the safety of Hylia's people, and I can hardly do that if a student insists on putting himself in danger here." 

The bird makes a loud, offended noise. Clearly it doesn't think that Link is in any danger and thinks that this assessment is an insult to its skills. While Fi can understand the sentient, its actions do not increase their chances of success in the slightest. 

Link finally seems to have realised the magnitude of the conversation, and has frozen up, completely in awe now he has fully realised who he is talking to. Fi, however, is less in awe and is more than capable of stepping in. 

She materialises and stands next to her Master. "We too are serving Hylia by being here. My Master's skills will only improve if he is sufficiently challenged. Any skills he develops now may mean life or death depending on how resilient our enemies prove to be." 

The spirit looks at her, then back at Link. He looks almost disbelieving. "Ah, so you are no ordinary child, you are the one Hylia has chosen... I did not expect her to choose one such as yourself." 

Fi listens to his words. She runs an analysis on his words, considers every possible interpretation, and she does not like a single possible conclusion. 

"Lord Levias, I assure you my Master is a remarkable human. He will not fail a single one of the tasks left for him and you do him an injustice by underestimating him. Should his rates of improvement continue, I predict a sixty percent chance of success when the time for him to face his destiny." 

The other forty percent is entirely dependent on other factors, such as enemy behaviour, the terrain they are faced with and other magical influences. As far as she is concerned, it has nothing to do with Link. 

Levias blinks at her, then turns back to Link. "And how old are you, boy?"

"F-fifteen."

The spirit makes a slow, thoughtful noise. Fi hovers in front of her Master, attempting to block him from the guardian's judgemental gaze.

"You are awfully young to be flying in a place like this, but you also have a lot to prepare for. I will not inform Instructor Owlan of your presence here, as I suspect his attempts to stop you will only make you continue your efforts elsewhere." 

"It would be unwise to stop training." Fi agrees. 

"I shall remain here and supervise your efforts so that you do not injure yourself. It would not do for the chosen Hero to perish before he can so much as face his destiny." 

"I would not allow that in any case." She doesn't know why she feels the need to clarify, and something about her answer makes the great spirit chuckle as he flies away. 

"I will observe from a distance. Relax, little Hero, I will only interfere if it becomes necessary, continue like we never had this chat." 

Only after he leaves, does Link turn to her. "Thanks for sticking up for me there." 

And with a detached sort of surprise, Fi realises that's exactly what she was doing. Her actions certainly align with her purpose, but her motive was far less rational. Simply put, she had acted without thinking about it and she had no motive to persuade Levias to support their purpose. She had simply thought to defend the name of her Master.

She cannot tell why that was what drove her, rather than any semblance of a plan. She is driven to use the data and tools at her disposal to secure what she has calculated.

An unwanted thought occurs. Her attitude towards her Master appears to have become protective, almost overly so. Fi can find no reason for this change, and while the idea of the emotion 'affection' does occur, it is an unknown quantity and not one she can reliably identify, so she dismisses the notion. 

Still, the possibility remains. Emotions. 

She does not know what to think.

* * *

Time passes, one academic year ends and the next begins, and the change that seems to come with the new year is Groose's behaviour. Link can't pinpoint the exact moment that the other boy goes from obnoxious to antagonistic, but if the rants he goes on right before finding a new way to humiliate Link are anything to go by, Link thinks the weekend he spent wandering around Skyloft with Zelda might have been the turning point. 

It starts off innocent enough, just a shove in the hallway, an elbow to the ribs when Link is sitting and doing his reading. 

"It's like he's trying to pick a fight," Fledge had commented once, "please don't fight him, Link. That would be scary!" 

Except then it gets worse. Outside of training, fighting is strictly banned and is especially enforced among the upper years as it is not conduct becoming of a Knight. Groose doesn't seem to care, and he gets bolder with every passing week.   
Link, as it turns out, is not very good at coming up with excuses for black eyes. 

And Pipit, who finds him after the third time this happens, is rather good at seeing through lies. "Why don't you report it?" 

"That," Link hisses, pressing a cloth filled with ice to his face, "has never stopped Groose before. In my experience, that normally makes him worse." 

Pipit pulls a face. "I can't believe I'm saying this, because it is most certainly not a good example to follow, but why don't you hit him back? I think he only does it because he knows you won't get him back for it." 

Link shrugs. He's been learning how to pick his theoretical opponents apart for a very long time, and it turns out to be easier when there's actually one right in front of him. Fi is right, he'll get a better response if he knows how his enemy wants him to act. 

"I think that's what he's waiting for." 

His friend looks confused, then hides it with a chuckle. "I guess you could say that he's quite literally asking for it then." 

Link laughs too. 

Then the next day, he can't hide from Zelda anymore. He tells her his Loftwing got over-excited and knocked him with its wing by accident, and she frowns at him and tells him to be more careful.

Then she decides that if his Loftwing got emotional, it simply hadn't been flying enough and they should go together, so she can make sure he's actually being cautious. He doesn't get much of a choice, she all but throws him off the platform.

Idly, as he whistles for the entirely innocent bird, he wonders if he should thank Groose.

(Fi does not think he should thank Groose. Fi tries to hide it but she really, really does not like Groose.)

Link thinks that the afternoon spent flying with Zelda is going to have consequences. Link is normally right about these things. 

Two days later, Link is absolutely right about these things. He has two whole pieces of evidence that form enough for a conclusion: he has surprised everyone by not actually punching Groose and Groose won't be satisfied until he has what he wants, and Link hasn't been intimidated into spending less time with Zelda, so he's due another round of threats.  
Groose is very predicable. The only thing left for Link to guess is what horrible thing will happen next since beatings haven't worked. 

No. Groose is many things, predictable is one of them, and Link is about to decide that horribly creative is another one of those hidden traits. Because Link expects many things as he wanders back towards the academy after some early afternoon flying, as he does most days, and to be ambushed by Groose is one of them.

For Groose to be holding a pile of Loftwing dung is not one of them. For Groose to have a destination in mind for the things he's holding is a thought that occurs to Link exactly three seconds after he should have started running. 

Suffice to say, even though he's been training for years, two seconds is not enough time to run away from someone sprinting towards him. 

Groose's behaviour surprises no one. The fact he was creative enough to think of Loftwing waste is a mild shock, and one Link recovers from quickly. Shock turns to rage and he spends exactly two seconds thinking of exactly how to get revenge. 

It is the moment that everyone present has been anticipating since Groose's odd behaviour had begun. 

Because Link seems determined to surprise everyone since Groose certainly won't live up to the challenge, he does not actually snap and punch Groose in the face. Instead, he whirls around to look at the boy and glares at him. 

"You," the boy who will be the Hero hisses, "are a detriment to society." 

Groose freezes. It's probably the shock, because he'd been so sure that he'd finally driven the shorter student to violence so he'd show Zelda what an uncontrollable temper he had and why he was an awful friend. 

Well, the only thing Groose has actually accomplished with the interaction was the timing. Zelda is there alright, and she is angry. 

She arrives just before Link should have turned around and smacked Groose. Instead, she hears Link's words, then looks from the Loftwing waste that's been worked into her friend's hair, then to the stained glove Groose is wearing and her face goes red. 

"W-what did you just call me?" 

"You heard me." Link glares. He is also the only one blissfully oblivious of the furious girl marching up behind him. 

What happens next is a surprise. To Groose, to Link, to everyone watching. The instructor who has to deal with the situation is also baffled for a good three minutes before she sighs and starts taking accounts from the bystanders. 

The victim is sent away to go and wash the Loftwing dung from his hair. Fledge runs along with him because he's been working for Horwell in mucking out the Loftwing stables for about two months now and he's quietly looking into the possibility of helping the staff in the kitchens instead, but he knows all about washing out Loftwing waste.

Someone gets detention for punching Groose. It is not Link.

* * *

"I talk like you do now." 

"Master, I am unsure what you mean. Please give me more information to clarify your statement." 

"I called Groose a detriment to society. This is your fault." 

"I do not see the problem. Given the data I have collected, there is an eighty percent chance that your conclusion was entirely correct." 

"But Fi-" 

"Your deduction skills show improvement, Master." 

Fi does not like Groose.

* * *

"Her Grace punched Groose?" 

"Yeah, Zelda did." Link says dreamily. "It was a good punch, he still has a black eye even now." 

Fi considers this. 

Fi respects Hylia. Fi trusts Hylia. Fi has never done and will never do anything other than serve Hylia to the best of her abilities.

But she decides that she rather likes Zelda, too.


	5. Chapter 5

Link, as it turns out, more than shares Fi's conclusion about Zelda being a very nice mortal. As with most things that lead to big changes, it starts off with an entirely unrelated event and nothing goes as she expects.

"Fi, what's your analysis on this report." 

The sword spirit hovers at his shoulder and inspects the papers on his desk. "It is an assignment from Instructor Owlan on the history of Loftwings. You should have sufficient notes from his lectures in the last two weeks to formulate an appropriate response." 

Link groans.   
"Do you have any hints?" 

Fi stares at him silently. He wilts and shuffles over to his shelves and slowly pulls a pile of papers from where they've been shoved hastily between two books. Fi concludes that her advice has been sufficient and returns to the blade Link has hidden in his wardrobe.  
Her Master writes one sentence slowly. Then another. Then he sighs and she can hear the rustling of paper that means he must be consulting his notes again. There's the tell-tale scratch of colouring pencils. 

Fi considers materialising to remind Link that it would be prudent to finish this work in a timely manner because otherwise it will limit the time they have to train later. While there is no pressing urgency to their training as far as she can surmise, the exercises she recommends will be most effective if they are undertaken regularly. 

Before she can decide that an intervention is necessary, there's a knock on the door. Link leaps up to answer it so quickly that Fi can conclude with far greater accuracy that he was not focusing at all. 

"Zelda!" 

"Link! Are you doing Owlan's essay too?" 

"Yeah... It's not going so well." 

"Good! Mine is awful too, can I come in here and we can work together? Maybe if we both try it, we can get it done before tomorrow..." 

Link stares at his two sentences. "I think we'll have to do a lot of work." 

Zelda shuffles over to look at the piles of paper on his desk. "We've written about the same amount- oh that Loftwing drawing is so good!" 

Link uses a hand to rub the back of his head. Fi can conclude with absolute certainty that he is embarrassed. This seems to be a common occurrence around Zelda, and she's beginning to suspect that there may be more causation than correlation than she initially thought. This investigation, Fi concludes, will require more data. 

So as Zelda vanishes to fetch her own notes and essay and Link desperately tries to clear space for her on his desk, Fi materialises. "Master, I suspect this outcome has greatly improved your chances of completing a satisfactory assignment by the deadline. Should this prove effective, I recommend you attempt to enlist Zelda's help more frequently." 

Link stiffens. "Thanks, Fi. That analysis was very helpful." 

"I am glad to be of assistance." She says as farewell, and she vanishes just as Zelda returns. She is far better prepared than her friend.

"You have loads of notes!" Link squawks. 

Zelda shoves her sheet of paper with a single sentence on it onto his desk with more force than necessary. "That doesn't mean I want to write them into an essay." 

Link nods in understanding, and Zelda calms down instantly. "People always say I should be good at this stuff because I'm smart." She sighs. 

He pulls up a chair for her. Fi suspects his face is bright red. "I-I don't think that! You- you.... I say that we both need to be good at this stuff because it's due tomorrow. Ignore them, think of the detention we'll get if we don't do it." 

Zelda grins. "You always know the right thing to say. At least you can sleep through detention." 

"Not if Owlan gives another lecture while we sit there." 

"You slept through the lectures he gave in class fairly well." At that, Link sits up straighter and very carefully doesn't look at the corner of the room that hides Fi. He doesn't need to look, in all fairness: he can feel her disapproval. 

The next three hours entail the most gruelling session of writing, furious crossing out and the creation of several pages of bored doodles. By the end of it, both teenagers have produced an essay that Fi suspects will grade significantly better than several of their peers. 

Zelda hugs Link before she leaves, and he takes a moment to remember to hug her back and from the look on his face, Fi can determine that the probability of him talking to her about feelings again has just increased. 

Link stares at the door long after the girl has left. He doesn't seem to notice her form in the air behind him, but he does jump when she speaks. 

"If you would stop daydreaming about flying with Zelda, we may now proceed with your combat training for the day." 

"Y-yes. Combat training. Let's do that." Link is very red and he moves robotically to retrieve the blade. 

Emotions can be tricky things. Fi has enough data she is very carefully not analysing to be reasonably certain of this now. Perhaps, even if it is unlikely, he is unaware. If this is the case, as it seems to be, then it is absolutely her duty to inform him.

"Master, I calculate that you have feelings again." 

He freezes mid-movement. "Fi, I really, really don't." 

"My results show a ninety-five percent chance that you are lying." 

Her Master does not grace her statement with a response. 

"Feelings," she prompts as he walks through empty streets towards the cave behind the waterfalls, "for Zelda." 

"I'm about to suggest that your performance is not up to an acceptable standard." Link mutters sourly, his face a shade of red that does not typically lend itself to stealth. Fi now has enough data on human interaction to know that this is teasing. 

Still. She should follow protocol. "If my performance is not yet acceptable, we can return to the chamber beneath the Goddess Statue and you can continue detailing how you would plan to survive the harsh climate of the Lanayru Desert." 

"Fi!" Link says brightly. "Have I told you how amazing you are recently?" 

So Link goes to the waterfall and Fi remains the coolest.

* * *

The rest of the year and then the brief holiday pass quickly. Link provides Fi with a large amount of very interesting data given how he talks about Zelda brightly or explains that the new scrape on his face is from when he tripped over his own feet because he was watching her laugh. 

She can conclude with absolute certainty that he is smitten. 

Then the school year starts again.

Link has a nightmare the day before he is set to fly back. He sits awake in the living room in the early hours of the morning, because he is seventeen now and he won't bother his parents for things like bad dreams anymore. 

He makes sure to hug each of his parents before he leaves, puts a little too much emphasis on the goodbye. They do not worry, but Fi does. She will think later, that this must have been the moment he knew that they would have to leave soon.

He has another nightmare the night he arrives. 

"The seal is weakening." She reports grimly. 

"We'll have to leave soon. We can check if we can strengthen it at all on the surface." 

"That is a plan that increases our chances of success greatly. Go to the chamber beneath the Goddess Statue at your earliest convenience and we can make preparations for travel." 

Then, the task at hand completed, she softens and focuses on her Master's wellbeing. "Is there anything you wish to complete before our departure?" 

Link freezes and she can practically see his mind fly to a thousand things he wants to do. Help Fledge draw up a work out routine so he feels less left behind. Figure out why Pipit is so stressed and sad all the time. The carved bird on his desk sitting patiently next to a tin of blue paint. 

In the end, he asks in a very tiny voice, if he can stay long enough to do the important test next week. 

"Of course. The seal should not break that soon, we can safely do so." 

And then it's all he'll talk about. Even as he wanders casually over to the Goddess Statue at an hour most people typically wouldn't be walking the streets, he tells her about it. 

So she knows that it's the biggest test of skill that he has yet to face in the academy, that it will be the next step towards Knighthood. She knows that the first week of school is mostly reminders on how to study for the lower years so teachers have time to help the candidates for the test with any last minute problem.

The trick to it, Link tells her, is that it's virtually impossible to do any flying training last minute because it's all a long-term thing. The most last minute anyone will get for a test like this is over the holiday, but some cram study in the last week out of sheer panic. 

He places the Emerald Tablet on the waiting altar and pointedly doesn't watch as there's a flare of green light on the horizon for less than a second, and then a small hole in the cloud barrier. Instead, he tells Fi that Zelda will be the one playing the part of the goddess and there's something sad in his smile. 

But he brightens as he leaves the chamber, and tells her about the long letters Zelda had sent over the holiday complaining that learning how to play the harp had hurt her hands. 

"Master Link?" She asks, once he's tidying his desk in his room because he won't be around when classes start so he won't need all the books and paper thrown over his desk. 

"Yeah?" He doesn't turn from where he's piling up the books that will need to go on a shelf somewhere. 

"For what it is worth, I'm sorry. It saddens me to know that you will have to leave your home." 

He does turn to face her, then, arms still holding books and his smile finally holds something close to happiness. "Careful, Fi, that sounds like an emotion there." 

It takes her a moment to realise that he's teasing, but by then her guilty silence has spoken for her. She cannot answer because she now has enough data to suggest that those brief moments of irrationality are not anomalies as she had first thought, and there is only one conclusion they indicate. Emotions. 

Even uncertainty is a very human thing. 

Still, now the issue has been brought up, she cannot avoid it. "I believe I have adequate data to suggest that I am, contrary to both my design and earlier expectations, capable of feeling emotions." 

The books clatter to the floor. "Did... did you really not know?" 

"I did not have sufficient data to support a definitive conclusion until very recently. I am uncertain as to how you appear to have realised this before I did." 

"Fi, I used to guilt-trip you out of making me do push ups. I thought it was obvious and the whole not-feeling thing was a joke." 

She pauses, considers the timeline her Master suggests and finds a problem. "I had not yet learnt to apply the concept of humour. You did not interpret the data you collected properly." 

"I was still right, though. You _do_ feel." 

"I do." And she doesn't even know how to solve the problem. This should not be possible, not in the slightest. 

"This decreases our chances of success significantly." She informs him, and wonders why she cares that his face falls. 

"What? Why?" 

"If emotions impact the conclusions I draw, there is a greatly increased chance that they will be unreliable. I cannot afford to make such mistakes." 

Link sighs, and picks up the books as he talks to her. "Fi, do you trust me?" 

"Yes." Unquestionably so. 

"Even though I'm human and I'll make mistakes and all my choices are impacted by emotion." 

"Master Link, I do not understand the point you are trying to make. I am well aware of the traits you listed, and they do not change my answer." 

"So if you can trust me, you can definitely trust yourself. Fi, you've been having emotions for years and they haven't ruined your conclusions at all." 

Comfort is another emotional thing. She should be thinking of a way to work around the new problem, a way to continue functioning without the influence of these emotions. But instead, she lets Link's words ease her worries and places the issue somewhere behind preparing for what is to come. 

She hovers next to him and watches her Master place the books in alphabetical order, then tidy away the tools he was using to finish the small Loftwing figurine, gaze lingering wistfully on the paint that matches the colours of Zelda's bird. 

But he tears himself away and continues robotically until everything is in order, and Fi forces her mind away from the matter of emotions as it is clear that there will be no timely solution for her. Trust, another human concept, is something she shares with her Master and it will have to do.

They all have tasks to do. Now is not the time to falter.

* * *

For all that it starts differently, the story still goes very much the same. 

Link still wins the sailcloth from Zelda. They still decide to go flying together after the small ceremony. Zelda still falls and Link will still be haunted by the fact he couldn't catch her. 

He does not remember what happens after he failed to catch her, but he remembers waking up, and Fi waiting for him. He takes the time only to put on the uniform left for him and to write a quick note explaining that he's going after Zelda before he grabs the sword, jumps off the edge of the island and calls his Loftwing. 

The bird will not cross the cloud barrier. Link takes the loss without flinching, and pats the bird as a goodbye. His hands do not shake, and they haven't for years now. 

"See if you can stop them thinking I'm dead long enough for them to read my letter." 

The crimson Loftwing chirps mournfully, and then Link is falling and all she can hear is the rushing wind and all she can see is the world unfurling below them. 

Some things stay the same. Link arrives on the surface, gives himself exactly one minute to marvel at the scenery, and then sets off. At the edge of the pit, he still has a vision of the monster rising, snapping its teeth, but this time he's watching it and he's looking for weak points. 

He staggers away from the edge with a gasp, then says to Fi very quietly that it looks like its feet have very fragile toes, and that's the best plan they'll have for a while. 

Link still asks the old woman for directions. He still takes time to help the Kikwi, and whispers sheepishly to ask Fi help him remember their names. He uses the dowsing ability he's practiced on hunting remlits to find Zelda, and when he finally makes it into the final room in Skyview Temple, it's to the sound of a different door slamming in a demon's face.

Ghirahim still rants, still rambles and still decides to fight Link. It is a battle that goes very, very differently. Link is not so inexperienced this time and Ghirahim's anger is still too raw for him to be in the mood to toy with his prey. 

Link moves with the grace of a dancer and strikes back with the force of a seasoned fighter. He is many things, and unprepared is not one of them. 

The battle turns brutal quickly. Link doesn't do what he's supposed to and die, Ghirahim stops with his smirks and taunts and soon they both realise the same thing: their opponent is a threat. Link does not survive solely because of the sword in his hands and when Ghirahim steps away in something too sure to be a retreat, but too fast to be a mockery, he stares at the bloodied human still standing strong. 

"Sky child... You'll be snapping at my heels the entire way, won't you? Hylia's dogs are so bothersome, so I'll be sure to put you down soon." 

"If you're after her, I'll kill you before you can catch her." 

The Demon Lord leaves with an ugly, angry smile. "We shall have to see about that." 

So Link races through the door and Zelda is not long gone at all. He is just in time to see a flash of light and then an empty room. Fi reports that she detects Zelda's presence so strongly that it can only mean that they've missed her by seconds.

So Link picks up the Ruby Tablet and walks away from the spring with a heavy heart. Fi tells him that they might catch Zelda at the next spring, the one mentioned in the song she translated as soon as they discovered that her Grace would not be waiting for them.   
Her words fail to make him smile, just as the sight of her translating the message did not bring the joy her dancing usually did. 

He returns to the Sky, and the island is waiting for him. 

There had been a panic when an Instructor went to check on him only to find him missing. Then the whole academy had been involved in the search and it was hours before Link's Loftwing could calm anyone enough to direct them to the letter sitting innocently on the tidy desk where it had been completely overlooked. 

From the moment he lands by the academy, the Instructors come running and before he can so much as step towards the Goddess Statue to use the Ruby Tablet, he is herded into a meeting with all the teachers in Headmaster Gaepora's office. 

Fi supposes that in their hurry to leave, she is not the only one who failed to consider the emotions of others. Link seems sheepish as he explains the situation as calmly as he can, in an odd contrast to the mounting panic of the adults in the room. 

The headmaster sits down heavily. "I knew of the prophecy, of course. I just never expected it to play out like this." 

Link stares at the floor. Fi cannot even begin to guess what he is feeling. "I'm sorry." 

"My daughter? Why is she involved in... this?" 

"She's," and Link swallows back the Goddess' name, "important." 

"I don't care if she's important, I care if she's _safe_. Have you seen her, Link? Is she alive?" 

Link bows his head. "I'm sorry. I missed her by seconds. I intend to leave as soon as I've restocked on supplies to catch up to her." 

Instructor Owlan speaks up, then. Fi had not expected any of the Instructors to voice their thoughts. "Certainly not. I know Horwell well enough to know how long it takes potions to work. You'll need at least a night of proper rest before you're in any shape to fight again." 

That had been Fi's conclusion as well.

So Link is forced into spending an evening at an establishment known as the Lumpy Pumpkin, where news of his sudden disappearance and equally sudden return have yet to spread so he can eat without being stared at. Instructor Owlan accompanies him and pays for everything, which earns him Fi's approval. 

They make Link stay for one more day, and he spends it searching for a different missing girl and befriending demons, flying a short distance to deliver medicine to a Loftwing too injured to get its rider home. 

Fi remembers his rambles of what it means to be a Knight and helping people, and it doesn't take her long to place the emotion she feels as pride.

* * *

The second Link's presence is detected in the region that houses the Eldin volcano, Ghirahim knows. He knows and he intends to wipe out the Hero before he can become a threat, because he has already seen Link's potential. 

Monsters that were advancing on Zelda suddenly turn, called to hunt out a different prey.   
She is left, unsure as to why she has been spared so abruptly and she sits there stunned for a long moment. The guardian sent to help her is less willing to pass up on the opportunity.

Zelda is spirited away to safety, and Link stands unflinching in the face of danger. Some things don't change. Link cuts through the monsters, speaks to each mogma they come across and helps them find safety if he can. He doesn't need to try dowsing for his friend, they are well aware that she must be heading to the Temple that once housed those worshipping Hylia. 

Impa has different words for Link when she meets him by the bridge in Eldin.   
"You are doing well to hold back the demon lord's forces, I sense their power growing even as you face them. Continue your efforts and you will be reunited with Her Grace soon enough." 

And then she is gone, back to reassure a hysterical girl that Link is still alive, and Link turns too, and fights his way towards the Temple. Fi collects data on his performance with various enemies and whispers weak points when she thinks he might need the reminder.   
It is a pattern that soon becomes a habit. 

They reach the Temple. It is, predictably enough, full of traps and monsters. Less predictable are the mogma that scavenge the ancient building in search of treasure, but Link seems to regard them with the same fondness he found for the kikwi. Fi will eventually conclude that they can be counted as somewhat dubious allies. 

Link defeats the monster known as Scaldera, and while it is not a being Fi had prior knowledge of, it is not something capable of killing her Master as Ghirahim had clearly hoped. Link is earlier than he might have been otherwise, when he staggers into the second spring, smelling of smoke and burnt hair. 

Impa holds up a hand to silence him, and they both stand quietly as Zelda finishes her song, and while her eyes are distant and unseeing, she doesn't miss a single note on the harp. The song ends, her singing slows then stops altogether. She shakes her head, like she's clearing her mind of the memories Fi suspects she has just uncovered.

She is still disorientated when she turns and sees her childhood friend standing quietly next to her guard.

"You-"

"You're alive." Link breathes at the same time she speaks, and his relief seems to lift a great weight from his shoulders. 

Those are the only words they have time for. A scream of rage echoes through the Temple and Fi doesn't need to run an analysis or report to Link for him to recognise Ghirahim.   
He hesitates for a moment too long. 

Impa looks at him sharply. "Do not falter in your duty, Hero. Her Grace's safety must come first." 

Link nods, and he races back the way he came. Fi knows he can hear Zelda calling his name with the same clarity as Impa sealing the door behind him. They both know that Zelda and her guardian will be long gone by the time the seal on the door fades.

Ghirahim must know it too, but it doesn't stop him from freezing and glaring at Link.   
"I cannot believe you were rude enough to utterly destroy my friend." He snarls, like that is the action that has caused his fury. Link must know it too, because his smile makes the ash on his face look like war paint. 

The demon's anger makes him sloppy and he realises it shortly into the fight and finds an excuse to leave as soon as he can. 

Link clutches the Amber Tablet so tightly that it leaves a mark on his skin, and he checks the room afterwards anyway even though he already knows it'll be empty. Fi convinces him to rest, and he uses the spring's waters to wash the ash and blood from his face.  
Then, they return to the sky once more.

* * *

Ghirahim is oddly absent from Lanayru at first. Link has dreaded visiting the desert for a long time, so Fi has been sure to prepare him well. The particuarly nasty monster waiting at the end of the mining facility is one she has quizzed him on relentlessly and he makes short work of it.

They walk towards the Gate of Time and it is still active. Zelda and her guard have already gone through, but they have waited for Link. Fi instructs him on how to pass through it safely, and they step into the past where they find the stern woman waiting for them, watching in case some kind of threat arrives before they do. 

"You made it, well done. Her Grace tells me that your name is Link- she sent me to welcome you. My name is Impa, I am one of the Sheikah, and my clan exists to serve the Goddess." 

Impa says briskly, beckoning Link to walk through the hallways of the Temple with her. "You perform your duties as the Chosen Hero well, but I suspect we do not have much time before the Demon King's minions find the Gate of Time." 

Link nods. He seems to have forgotten how to speak. 

"It will be up to you to destroy it when you return through it. I suggest an explosion." 

Another nod. 

She turns to look at him sharply. Something that might have been concern crosses her face, but she is not checking for Link's health, merely his understanding. But he's not concussed, he's not bleeding. His eyes are bright and alert, his expression is dark but he's listening. 

"I'll do what has to be done." He promises, and there's something in his tone that means that his voice doesn't have to be loud for the words to hold weight. 

"Good. Her Grace chose well with you." Impa stops before a door. "She is waiting for you now." 

Link steps through the door, and she closes it behind him. Even Fi's senses struggle to pick up her footsteps as she leaves, but soon enough she's gone. 

And then Link is left with his childhood friend and the Goddess who decided his fate. He waves awkwardly, suddenly not sure what to say, and Fi is reminded that he does not communicate particularly well when he likes someone. "Hi." 

Her Grace takes a careful step forward. "Link! You made it!" 

Link is very quiet as he stares at his friend. 

Zelda does not seem to enjoy this silence. "Link? Say something. Please?" 

"Do you prefer Hylia or Zelda?" He blurts, and then goes very red and decides to look anywhere but her face. 

Her breath catches. "You know? All this time, you knew?"

He nods. "I guessed a while ago. Fi confirmed it and then said that I wasn't allowed to tell you." 

"Fi..." Her face scrunches up in confusion. It is a very mortal expression, especially for a Goddess. But then the confusion sharpens into recognition and Fi suspects that with the return of her powers, Hylia's memory has improved greatly. 

"She was the imaginary friend you had as a kid!" 

Link looks at the blade on his back. Fi interprets this as an instruction to reveal herself, so she promptly does so. 

"I believe you have sufficient memory to know that I am not made from anyone's imagination except yours, Your Grace." When Fi forms, she is bowing. Despite the damage to her memories, she will always remember proper conduct for interacting with the Goddess.

Zelda smiles softly, and _that_ is the expression that Fi feels fits the Goddess. 

"Of course. I trust you've been helping Link?" 

"You Grace, I have been training him since he was ten. He is prepared for the tasks you have seen fit to bestow upon him, and I can testify that he is worthy of every title you give him." Fi intones. A brief report is the best approach, as the Goddess has precious little time for them.

"Ten." She whispers. 

Ah. So Fi's awakening was not a part of the plan. Still, it has yielded results that greatly improve their chances and that is the more important thing. Not all accidents result in errors. 

"I will take my leave. My Master has waited a long time to talk to you, Your Grace." 

"Link, have you really been involved in this mess since you were ten?" She asks, and there's something terribly sad in her expression. 

He still looks like he's not sure what to do with himself. "I only knew what was going on once I was twelve. Ze- sorry, I'm still not sure what to call you." 

"Zelda," she decides sounding like she's trying not to cry, "from you I prefer Zelda." 

Link beams. Fi suspects that there was more to his question than just the matter of a name, then. "Okay Zelda, how have you been coping?" 

She smiles too, and some of the sadness leaves her expression. "I should be asking you that, silly. Impa tells me you've been fighting off every monster that might think to come after me. But I've been coping alright, it's just... odd." 

"Odd?" 

"I'm still Zelda, you know? I'm still my father's daughter, I'm still the girl you go flying with, the girl who draws on your face when you sleep through class... But I'm also a Goddess and I've fought demons and people have died for me and- and-" 

She pauses to wipe her eyes, and fixes her smile back in place determinedly. "It's just hard to be both sometimes, even though it's always been the same thing." 

Link shrugs. "It's still quite a big change to actually know about it. I'd be more worried if you weren't overwhelmed." 

She swats at him with a playful hand. "You always know what to say! Don't think I've forgotten about you, how have you been coping?" 

Link laughs uneasily. "Well enough. Did you know the history books don't mention how bad monsters smell?" 

Zelda snorts in a manner very unbecoming of a Goddess. And then, in the next silence when the smile slips off her face, it stays gone. The talk turns to the reason that they're both standing there, in a Temple in the distant past, one a Hero and the other a Goddess.

At the end of it all, the seal still needs strengthening, there is still a sacrifice that needs to be made. It all comes down to the same thing, Zelda has a duty, Link is still a pawn to be moved about to get the best outcome and the same question is asked at the edge of it all. 

"Will... will you wake me up when this is all over?" 

"I promise." Link says, and his voice breaks. So he says it again, over and over until she can't hear it anymore and still smiles at him from her crystal prison. He lets the words fade into the silence.

Fi can't think of a single thing to say as he packs away the harp Zelda gave him, turns, looks at the floor like she needs to see his face to know his heart is breaking, and starts to walk from the Temple. Impa is also quiet, and she gives Link only a solemn nod as he passes and steps into the Gate. 

The interaction is one between soldiers. They are all only servants in the end, and when everything else is gone, there is still a role for them to play, there are still things they must do.

Once, when Link had been a little bit in love with a different mortal, one who wears yellow now and still smiles at Link in the halls, he had asked Fi to help him learn to hide his emotions. After weeks of struggling, he'd eventually schooled his features into a blank mask. 

Fi had thought it very disconcerting, entirely unfitting for her Master and with the data she has amassed over the years, she can conclude that she has been very relieved not to see it again since. 

But that expression he'd crafted to hide away the feelings that would eventually hurt him is the exact face he wears when he steps out of the Gate of Time. It is the face he wears as he sets the explosives that will damage it beyond repair.

The explosions roll over the desert like thunder, and just like that the last pathway to Zelda is gone. Someone howls with rage and races closer, pale fingers grasping a black sword. 

Link's expression doesn't change as he faces Ghirahim. It is a bloody battle, worse than the one before and perhaps worse than the ones to follow. The demon had been fighting for something and Link has just snatched it away from him and all that's left is rage. 

"I should have killed you last time. My punishment is losing this lead but I'll take satisfaction in knowing that your punishment will be a slow death." 

Link doesn't answer, his expression doesn't change and he loses himself in the fighting.   
He finds himself several hours later, after the long ordeal of soaking bandages in red potions and applying them in the order that Fi deems the wounds most pressing. Slowly, that expression she loathes shatters. 

"She's really gone," he whispers, "isn't she?" 

Fi has not dispelled her form even though he finished treating his wounds some time ago. "She is not. Although the process will be long and dangerous, once we have eradicated Demise, it will be safe for her to return." 

Link nods jerkily. 

He still does not seem satisfied with her answer. He sits and stares at the small fire he probably doesn't remember making. He doesn't even attempt to sleep, even though that is exactly what Fi would advise as it would help with the healing. 

"I need to be doing something." He grumbles. A bandaged hand twitches towards the sword, and Fi concludes with absolute certainty that she will not let him attempt any form of combat training while he is injured. 

"How about practicing dancing?" She asks, and places herself between him and the blade. 

He stares at her. "But-" 

"Master, it has been quite some time since you have practiced. I will suffice as a partner for now."

So that is how a long and exhausting day ends. The Hero, dancing with the spirit that lives in the sword he wields. It is a slow dance, and a careful one, as Link is injured and tired, even if his mind can't rest just yet. 

They dance until his gaze clears and he seems to realise how exhausted he is. Fi then promptly advises him to try to get some rest until he actually does so. 

"Thanks Fi. For all that you teach me, I don't think we've ever danced together before." He murmurs, which does not please Fi. He is supposed to be sleeping. Still, if he wishes to make conversation, then she will do so too, but only until he finally rests.

"My form does not lend itself to dances suited for more than one person, but I will act as a replacement until we get Zelda back." 

"Yeah," he murmurs, finally drifting off to sleep, "until we get Zelda back."


	6. Chapter 6

Link returns to the sky to stock up on red potions before they go and consult the old woman in the Temple. He looks terrible, and on some level he must know it, because he doesn't stop and talk to the people in the bazaar like he normally does, and he doesn't so much as look towards the Knight Academy. 

He ignores the concerned glances people give him as he leaves. He is deaf to the horrified whispers that follow in his footsteps. Fi isn't, Fi worries with them, but her Master will not rest until he is even just a little bit closer to releasing Zelda and she knows this. It's just as Hylia planned, after all. 

Fi is concerned for her Master's health. He hasn't slept well since he first set foot on the surface, he has nightmares more frequently and she can't remember the last day that didn't hold a battle. 

But Groose has never once cared for Link's health. He flies after Link and follows him to the surface. Fi refers to her earlier assessment: she does not like Groose at all. 

He does nothing to change her opinion of him as he interrogates Link on his actions- suspicious arrivals and departures from Skyloft, excuses being made for absences and questions only being half answered- then declares that he will take over and be the one to rescue Zelda from her fate.

They go to the Temple, because Link doesn't know what to do next, and he doesn't know what to do with Groose and he doesn't know where else to go. 

The old woman greets them, she does not look surprised to see Groose or Link. She promises them that she has answers for them. The unruly boy who bullied her Master for years opens his mouth to begin another interrogation and- 

The ground shakes. The seal strains and strains and a monster thrashes its way out. Groose stops mid-word, face dropping into shock almost comically. The way Link stiffens is the furthest thing from funny. 

"Fi?" He whispers. 

She materialises because she thinks he needs to see her at this point, to know that despite all he has lost and all that he carries on his shoulder, someone is beside him, someone is fighting for him, with him.

"What is _that_?" Groose hisses. He is ignored.

"Master Link, the seal has weakened and the being called the Imprisoned will soon be released. I calculate a sixty percent chance that we will be able to successfully strengthen the seal to bind it once more should we defeat it in this form." 

Link nods. Then turns to look at the old woman. "Ma'am?" 

"Yes?" 

"Could... could you keep Groose safe in the Temple please?" 

"Of course. Simply focus on the beast for now." 

Link glances at Fi as he walks towards the door. "When will you have an analysis on the timings from the shockwaves from its feet?" 

Fi considers this, runs several quick calculations, then answers. "I estimate that I can draw reliable conclusions after three steps. Be sure to listen for me." 

The door opens. He shuts it behind him, oddly gentle in the face of the violence to come. "Got it." 

The monster is every bit as bad as Link has dreamed it to be. He was right in his earlier observation of its weak point, and while it doesn't get close to the Temple, her Master is shaken and the odds of their overall success have fallen by seven percent. She does not share this information. 

The conclusion Fi does not share is not the only disappointing news. 

The spoken: "You and your blade must both grow before you can even think of searching for the Triforce. There are still trials for you both, and I believe the clues are hidden above the clouds." 

And the unspoken: it will be a very, very long time until they can defeat Demise once and for all in order to ensure the safety needed for Zelda to return.

* * *

Link travels to the Isle of Songs. Fi interprets another message and Link applauds her dancing with a fond smile. Levias is oddly absent from the area. Link even stops to ask Instructor Owlan about it as he finds him in the bazaar in Skyloft. 

"Yes, Lord Levias has been rather reclusive recently. Don't worry Link, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." 

Whether or not it is anything Link should worry about is irrelevant at this point. Her Master does not have the time or emotional capacity for any more stress. He bids the Instructor a hasty farewell, ignores the concerned chirps of his Loftwing and instead focuses on falling into the Faron region, searching for the next in a long list of trials.

* * *

She cannot follow her Master into the Silent Realm, nor can she see him. She knows only the parameters of the task he must fulfil and the number of times he fails each task, so she begins a task of her own to pass the time. 

Emotions. She knows now she has been experiencing them for years and yet she still struggles to decipher them as she would any other data. 

Long ago, she had told Link that she was not disappointed in him for flying in a storm, as she had a criteria for the emotion and his actions did not fall under it. In truth, when considering exactly what events would cause her to feel such a thing, there is an unsettling realisation waiting for her. 

A plan that would have her Master, a mortal, face being much older, much stronger, much more than him. A plan that would have Link care for Zelda, have him love her, so that he would do anything to save her, so that Hylia might benefit from his efforts. Her plan has not been kind to her Master, not by any stretch of the imagination, and that is what gets to Fi. 

She had expected something different. Perhaps it is because she knew Link before the burden of his destiny, has seen him happy before she has seen him sad, but Hylia's plan for the Hero she chose fills Fi with disappointment.

She does not tell her Master this, but she thinks he'll be able to guess anyway, although from what clues she cannot predict at all. 

Just as her Master will not tell her exactly what happened the two times he failed the trials within the Silent Realm, but she will know anyway, because he'll keep glancing at the front of his tunic and absently touching his shoulder like he expects there to be blood. 

He has other words for her, leaving out the two failed attempts. "Who knew that all the stealth training avoiding instructors and remlits would come in handy?" 

"Although I did insist on you learning the skill for good reason, I did not anticipate this." Fi tells him sincerely. 

Link laughs. "Well, we get lucky sometimes." 

She keeps the idea of luck in mind as they meet the Water Dragon, then as they venture through the Ancient Cistern. She keeps the idea in mind even as Link scrambles up a rope, kicking at the dead hands that follow him. Luck, she thinks as the automaton Ghirahim has very thoroughly corrupted smashes the pillar Link is hiding behind, has very little to do with any of this. 

She has the same thought in the Ancient Cistern that she has on the Sandship. Even as the blade shimmers with heat and her spirit burns with the sacred fire, that the disappointment and shame that she feels when Link cries himself to sleep because he misses Zelda hurts more.

* * *

Karma is an interesting concept, as Fi comes to learn. It is only when they are seeking the third and final of the Sacred Flames does she realise why humans enjoy the idea as much as they do. 

"Master," she reports after a brief analysis of their options, "I believe the robot Scrapper will be able to carry the tub to the Eldin region in a timely manner." 

Link's face falls. "Do we have to? Please, Fi, is there any option other than that guy?" 

"Unless you plan to carry the tub on your back, Scrapper is our only option." She informs him, and once again her Master slumps with defeat. "I am contacting him via telepathic communication now."

"Yay." 

The Water Dragon peers at them. "Why do you not want the aid of this... assistant of yours?" 

Fi does not pay attention to whatever explanation Link gives the dragon. She is busy tracking Scrapper's progress and attempting to find the reasoning behind Link's odd reaction to needing the robot's help.

She finds the pattern she's looking for in data of her own interactions, which surprises her. The conclusion she can draw from comparing the two incidents is equally unexpected: Link regards Scrapper in the same way she once regarded the crimson Loftwing. 

Karma, she will decide as the trip goes horribly wrong, is a very entertaining concept indeed. She does not know why Scrapper attempted to overtake Link as they descended from the sky, nor does she think the blame for them ending up at the foot of the mountain rather than the summit lies entirely with her Master.

But he does not request for her aid in remedying the situation so she does not offer it. Besides, the robot has already expressed its inability to return to the sky, so her presence might worsen the volatile situation. It is best to just watch. 

"I hate this," Link mutters as he escorts the errant robot up the mountain, "I hate this so much you have no idea. "

"Hurry up Master Shortypants. Mistress Fi wanted this cargo at the summit yesterday!" 

Fi has some idea. Karma is delightful.

* * *

After finding the sacred flames, they are finally deemed ready to pursue the Triforce. This entails the needlessly complex procedure of interrogating every instructor on the matter until Instructor Owlan finally admits that perhaps Lord Levias is the only being left above the clouds with the knowledge they seek. 

It is only then that the very same Instructor reveals that the missing spirit has been spotted once more in Thunderhead, and the verdict of 'nothing to worry about' the man gave confidently upon Link's first return to Skyloft appears to be less than certain. 

Still, the man decides that Link's Loftwing must first learn the spiral charge before he could possibly allow the boy to attempt anything so dangerous. Link's face turns the same colour as his bird and he then has to begin the awkward ordeal of explaining several years of lies to his teacher. 

The crimson Loftwing executes three perfect spiral charges right in front of the man, Link waves goodbye sheepishly and then they're flying away and the familiar shape of Skyloft gets smaller and smaller behind them. 

The route to Thunderhead is familiar by now, and there is no data of interest so Fi's records will look like this: the instructor standing at the edge of the island staring after Link like he's never seen him before, and then Levias' huge form thrashing through storm clouds in a desperate attempt to rid himself of the parasite slowly draining him. 

It will not be one of Fi's favourite memories. The Loftwing has shown itself to be remarkable time and time again, so she is not surprised by the success of their mission in the slightest. But the winds are strong and the skies are dim and out of a sort of morbid curiosity, Fi calculates what their odds might have been should Link not have insisted on practice for years and the numbers are far less encouraging. 

Then, there are more pressing matters. There is another song for them to learn, the parts entrusted to Hylia's devoted servants on the surface. Lord Levias wishes them luck as they go. 

Fi materialises. "Master, this should be a task of little difficulty. We are already aquainted with the Water Dragon. Having travelled both the Lanayru and Eldin regions extensively, I calculate we will be able to locate the remaining dragons with little difficulty." 

"I don't know Fi. I doubt it'll be that easy." 

"I do not understand the logic behind your conclusion, Master. What could go wrong?" 

He groans. "Now you've said that, just about anything." But he's smiling.

Yes, her Master is smiling right up until they drop through the cloud barrier just as the Imprisoned strains against the seal once more. Groose is already waiting, explosives at the ready and while they manage to subdue it once more, it is a difficult and gruelling battle. 

"So," Groose says afterwards, wiping soot from his face, "did you find the Triforce?" 

Link shakes his head. "The next clue about it is in Faron Woods." 

The old woman inhales sharply just as Groose's expression morphs into confused pity. "Yeah, about that... It's flooded." 

They create a plan that successfully manages to overcome the new and very alarming alterations to the terrain, and Fi makes a note of utmost importance to never inquire about the probability of misfortune aloud ever again.

* * *

Eldin volcano erupts just as they descend and they are separated and Fi spends the entire time calculating the chances of many, many horrible things that might have happened to her Master and trying in vain to reach out to him in a haze of what she will later realise is panic.   
He is mercifully without major injuries when he finds her. 

"Well Fi, would you look at that." 

Fi does not know what her Master could possibly be drawing attention to other than her crushing failure. He seems to notice her confusion even if she hasn't indicated it to him. 

"I finally caught you!" He says proudly, and grins like the child that chased her around the chamber beneath the Goddess Statue. There is ash on his face, minor burns on his hands and she has utterly failed him by leaving his side and he is smiling at her. 

"So you did. Master, I am sorry-" 

"Fi, can I guess what you're going to say. I want to test the accuracy of my estimations." 

She pauses. She does not normally permit interruptions, but her Master very rarely does so and without good reason. She should also take the opportunity to see how far he has developed the analysis skill she has taught him. All of those options are better than considering her own failure. 

"Very well." 

"You're about to apologise for being separated from me in all this, which would be very illogical of you. Because then I'd apologise for letting you go in the eruption and then we'd both be behaving irrationally. You have nothing to apologise, Fi, because you haven't failed."

"Emotions are irrational." Fi reminds him, because otherwise his conclusion is accurate enough to save her from speaking at all. For once, their roles are reversed, he is logical and she is the one struggling with emotions. 

"That they are... How about we say sorry together and then move on?" And he is far better at dealing with things like this than she is. 

So that's exactly what they do. Fi sits through her Master's apology even though it is without a doubt the most unnecessary thing he has ever said to her. She supposes he must feel the same way about her own words, given the face he pulls as she speaks. 

It is the easiest time she has ever understood her own emotions, and she thinks that might have been exactly what Link planned.

* * *

When Link storms into the Temple and slams the door behind him, both Groose and the old woman jump in alarm. Groose manages to throw the tea he was drinking all over himself while the woman simply places hers down on the small table and looks at the boy in surprise. 

"Link? What's wrong?" 

"The Thunder Dragon," Link snarls, "has an illness that can't be cured. The only thing that will help is a fruit from a special tree that takes thousands of years to grow and we don't have that kind of time!" 

Groose's face falls. Not even when staring down the Imprisoned had he looked so scared, so sad. "So if you can't learn the song from it..." 

"She stays gone." Link whispers, and Groose places one heavy hand on his shoulder. It is, Fi believes, a touching show of compassion and there's this odd mixture of relief and pride she doesn't quite know what to do with. 

"We'll find a way!" Groose forces himself to sound confident, and Link forces a smile on his face and Fi can believe them even if they don't believe themselves. 

"I'll save you looking for a way because there is one and it's quite simple. There's a second Gate of Time, and a nice plot of land in this Temple that could do with a tree- you were saying so just yesterday young man." 

"I thought the rock in the main room looked familiar!" 

Fi materialises. "Master, you remember how to activate the gate?" 

He nods, already racing into the room in question, and there's a smile on his face and Fi decides that Groose has redeemed himself enough to fall into the category of 'ally'. 

Link steps into the past still wearing the serene expression from the present. Fi glides along next to him so he does not have to walk through the newer, cleaner building alone. If there are parts of the room he does not look at, Fi does not bring them to his attention. 

Impa blinks, surprised to see him. 

"I came to plant a special tree." Link explains, still to giddy with relief to be shy. 

Her face softens. "That is good news." Her gaze drifts towards the places Link could not force himself to look at. The doors that seal Zelda's slumber, ensuring her safety and undisturbed rest for the years and years to come. "The Temple could do with more life in it." 

"Yeah." Link agrees quietly. 

"The Tree of Life should fulfil that task very well." Fi informs her Master and while her remark is not overhead, Link's snort of laughter echoes in the still air. 

Impa doesn't scold them, though. Instead, she marches off to find the appropriate tools and kneels in the dirt to help him plant it properly. Fi doesn't say as much, but she suspects that the woman will enjoy having something to care for as the years pass. 

Impa walks with Link back to the Gate. There is dirt on her hands an a smile on her face as she nods as a farewell. Link runs back through the gate, and leaving it open doesn't even feel like a mistake at the time. 

Groose lifts Link onto his shoulders so the Hero can pick the fruit from the highest branches of the Tree of Life and Fi knows then and there that things will turn out alright in the end, even if she doesn't have the data to support that conclusion just yet.

* * *

Link stands before the entrance to the Silent Realm in the middle of Skyloft. They are starting at dawn, when there are no residents of the island present, and Fi can only hope that her Master will be finished before crowds start to form. 

There are things he has found the time to do, in between the fighting and the exploring. He has cleaned Pipit's house upon request of his mother and couldn't manage to argue his way out of being paid for it. He'd overhead an argument in the dead of night, sneaking towards rest after a day of swimming through the flooded Faron region, and he'd found a way to slip that money back to Pipit, found a way to offer quiet support for the troubles he'd never known his friend was facing. 

He has slipped Fledge a stamina potion and watched him build the confidence he always knew the timid boy was capable of. 

(Of all the things he'd told Fi he wished he could do before he left Skyloft for the surface, only one remains unfinished. He carefully doesn't look at it whenever the Instructors bully him into getting some rest, but the wooden Loftwing still sits on his desk, waiting for paint. Perhaps he will finish it once Zelda wakes up.) 

There is still this odd feeling of finality as he stands before the glowing entrance, the notes of a song fading into the silence. 

"I really hoped I'd done the last of these." He admits sheepishly. 

"I calculate that we have overcome the majority to the trials left for us." She reassures him. 

They are close now. The end is in sight. 

Link emerges from the Silent Realm with quiet determination and a small red stone in his hand that wasn't there before. The streets are still empty, but Fi has long since stopped caring for the need for secrecy with humans when she has helped her Master face monsters, and she hovers at his side as he fits it into place in a statue. 

She follows him into the Temple. She watches as he works his way through the rooms, survives the traps and claims the prize. The brand on the back of his hand brightens and brightens until it blazes. 

He tells her, from atop the Goddess Statue, that it seems fitting for it to end where it started, and his memories keep the smile on his face even as he closes his eyes and _wishes_.

* * *

"Hey Fi," Link asks standing at the edge of his world and staring into the dark depths of the portal, "are you scared?" 

She materialises quietly. Perhaps in another time, she would not have such a good grasp on the things she feels, or would deem it better not to answer. But here, at the end of things, she decides on honesty. "Yes." 

Link forces a smile he doesn't feel, and irrationally, Fi is reminded of a long time ago, with her Master about to urge his bird into a storm. She had been scared then too, even if she didn't realise it at the time. 

"Me too." Link admits, and lets the smile fall from his face.

She remembers the things that brought him comfort then. "I will be with you until the end." She promises. She means it. Whether the battle ends here or in a thousand years, she will stand by him and face storm after storm if she has to. 

"But," he shifts, checks the fastenings on the sword one last time, "we have to be scared if we want to be brave." 

And then he steps forward, and she follows, the world behind them falls away and then reforms, and they stand before the Demon King. Link stands in a land that stretches on without end, and the water that soaks through his boots reflects the sky.

The battle is terrible, but they fight. Every time that wickedly sharp sword swings, Link thinks that he might die, but they fight. The calm skies are soon stained by a storm and the blade Link wields sings with the lightning he leant to fear years ago, but they fight.

They fight, they fight and they win. 

Then Link staggers back to the Temple, green tunic bloodied and torn. Fi is at his side as she always has been and though she does not touch him, she supports him all the same. Their companions are waiting for them, excited and expectant. No doubt either Hylia or Impa has sensed Demise's presence falter and fade into nothing.

Fi the servant turns to the girl standing next to Groose. "Your Grace, it pleases me to see you safe." 

Then, Fi the friend doesn't return to the sword as she might have done otherwise and instead she holds the Goddess' gaze. "My Master has done much to serve you. It would please me even more if you could take good care of him in the future." 

Zelda just laughs wetly and manages to make it a promise. She tackles Link and clings to him. "I-I'm so glad you're safe." 

Groose claps him on the shoulder. "You got him good." 

Link smiles past his aching limbs, the wounds that still sting and the cold curse that has latched around his spirit. He holds Zelda and nods to the boy who has become his friend. It is over and there is nothing more for any of them to worry about. 

Impa the guardian has a goodbye for Zelda. She refuses to go to the future with them, she insists on staying in her own time. There is a tree for her to take care of, a Temple to watch over. She knows her duty and it is not yet finished for her. 

She nods to Link and Groose. As they step towards the gate, the hand not clutching the bracelet Zelda gave her almost raises in a wave, but she stops herself and watches them leave instead.

Impa the old woman has goodbye for each of them. A final, proud nod for Link. A weathered, kind smile for Groose. A gentle, frail wave for Zelda, finishing the gesture she didn't have the strength for when faced with her first goodbye. She leaves, and she is smiling with her duty done. 

And then Fi is left with a goodbye for Link. 

He walks towards the pedestal slowly, reluctantly like he knows what's coming. She materialises and she notices that he's staring at the bright band of colours that mimic a friendship long destroyed by age and fire, but something she has kept perfectly on her form and always will. His eyes are bright with unshed tears. 

"Master Link, with your destiny fulfilled, it is time to terminate the necessary bond we share as master and servant. Please place the sword in the pedestal." Her face is expressionless, her voice is toneless and as he obeys her instructions for the last time, she watches the first tear fall. 

"The bond of friendship we shared will not be so easily severed, Link." She reminds him gently, and the hand he's raised to wipe his eyes freezes before he can finish the motion. 

"Y-yeah. You finally stopped calling me Master!" 

"I apologise if the title caused you discomfort. It was necessary at the time." 

"And now? What's necessary now? It's over, do you have to go? Can't you stay?" 

Slowly, reluctantly, she shakes her head. It takes her longer than it should have to find the words. She knows exactly what will happen to her now, she has known it since she first awakened. And now, when everything is different, she must tell her friend.

"With Demise defeated, my purpose is complete and there is no longer a need for my consciousness to be sustained. I will fall into a slumber," and this is the part that hurts, "until I am needed once more. It is not something I can prevent, it is a part of my design."

She does not mention the curse and she does not need to. Link knows what is to come, and she doesn't need him to say that the idea scares him. 

"Fi, I'm sorry." 

"Do not be. I am simply glad that I am able to rest easy assured of your safety and Demise's death. The alternative would not be so comforting." 

"I guess so." And there is something bothering him still. He stands there, unable to look at her for a moment, before he finally blurts out the thoughts that haunts him. 

"Hey, Fi? I know it's really stupid and I don't really even need to ask, and-" 

"Link, exactly none of your questions have been foolish before. Simply ask." 

"The- the ones who come after me- you know, because of that curse- those other lives, you'll look after them, right?" 

"I shall. Do you know why?" 

"Go on."

"Do you remember what you told me when you first met me?" 

"That we'd be fri- _oh_. Oh, Fi."

"Friends forever. I will not break my promise to you, Link." 

Her Master, her friend, has not been exactly dry-eyed for the previous part of the conversation, but this was the point where he really starts bawling. 

"I-I'm going to m-miss you!" 

"While I find myself... ill-prepared for the slumber I feel myself slipping into, there is great comfort in the knowledge that you will be the one to wake me up." 

"It won't be _me_. It will be someone with the same duty as me, it'll be another life, not this life. Fi, I-" 

"Link, I will treat them as I would you, for you will share the same spirit. It will not be the same person, you are correct, but rest assured that I will keep the friendship we share alive." 

And after that, for the first time since she first met him, Link is struck silent. It doesn't last long, of course, but he sits next to the sword and cries without making a sound while she sits next to him, feeling less and less real. 

There are suddenly so many things it is absolutely imperative that she must say. "Link, many have said these words to you over the years I have known you, and it is only fitting that I say them now in light of the things you have done. Thank you." 

"Are you k-kidding? I should be say-saying that to _you_! You were a-always there even when you didn't h-have to be and- and-"

"And each moment with you brought me happiness." 

She remembers the moment where she first and most obviously, to her own knowledge, made a decision fuelled solely by emotion when she agreed to teach Link how to dance. There is another memory too, of the time where Link had just lost Zelda and they had danced together until he was exhausted enough to sleep.

"Would you give me one last dance?" She asks before she can convince herself not to. 

Link smiles and nods. For a moment, it is not over at all, there is no goodbye looming over them. There is just dancing, a moment of coexistence that has nothing to do with fighting, nothing to do with destiny or duty at all. Dancing was the first thing she did as Link's friend rather than the spirit sent to prepare him for his destiny, and it seems fitting to her that it should be the last thing they share as well. 

The dance ends. She bows. She fades. 

"Until next time." Link offers, and he's smiling. 

"Until next time." She promises, then slips into sleep.


End file.
